TOLKIEN ESTATE SUES NEW LINE OVER RINGS ACCOUNTS

	Click here to login!	Search: Browse Contacts \| Power Search

Your Profile
In the News
Box Office
Development
- Literary Sales
- Open Writing
- Open Directing
- On The Move
- Most Active
- Studio Development
  - 20TH CENTURY FOX
  - ARTISAN
  - BVI
  - COWBOY
  - DIMENSION
  - DREAMWORKS
  - FINE LINE
  - FOCUS FEATURES
  - FOX SEARCHLIGHT
  - GOLDWYN
  - HERE!
  - IDP/GOLDWYN
  - IFC FILMS
  - KINO
  - LIONS GATE
  - MAGNOLIA
  - MGM/UA
  - MIRAMAX
  - NEW LINE
  - NEW YORKER
  - PARAMOUNT
  - PICTUREHOUSE
  - SONY
  - UNIVERSAL
  - WARNER BROS.
  - WEINSTEIN CO.
  - WELLSPRING
  - WINSTAR
- InfoTrack
Production
Job Market
Calendar

	LORD OF THE RINGS STAGE VERSION OPENS IN LONDON Jun 20 2007
	The $25-million stage production of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings which opened in (more)
	ZAENTZ RINGS IN JACKSON FOR PREQUELS Nov 24 2006
	As Lord of the Rings fans mounted a protest following word that New Line had (more)
	PRODUCER ZAENTZ WANTS $20 MILLION FROM NEW LINE Aug 19 2004
	Producer Saul Zaentz is suing New Line Cinema claiming that the studio has reneged on (more)

TOLKIEN ESTATE SUES NEW LINE OVER RINGS ACCOUNTS
Tuesday, February 12 2008

In the latest lawsuit against a studio alleging fraudulent accounting practices, the estate of Lord of the Rings creator J.R.R. Tolkien, along with publisher HarperCollins, has claimed that it has not received the 7.5 percent of gross receipts that New Line Cinema, the Rings' film producer, was obligated to pay. The plaintiffs, who are seeking $150 million, are also demanding the right to withdraw other Tolkien books from their deal with the studio, including The Hobbit. In two earlier lawsuits, Rings director, Peter Jackson and producer Saul Zaentz also claimed separately that they had not received their cut of the receipts. Jackson settled his suit in December. Zaentz's suit is still pending. In a similar move on Monday, Benedict Fitzgerald, who wrote The Passion of the Christ, filed a lawsuit against Mel Gibson and his Icon Productions, claiming that Gibson led him to believe that the movie would be produced on a shoestring budget and that there would be little money for the script. In fact, Fitzgerald claimed, the film cost $30 million to make and grossed over $600 million worldwide. He did not indicate how much he had been paid for the script.

END OF THE LINE FOR NEW LINE?
Monday, February 11 2008
Time Warner executives are considering folding New Line into its Warner Bros. division or keeping the brand as a separate production unit with Warner Bros. handling its distribution, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday), citing people familiar with the situation. The newspaper said that in either scenario, New Line would be reduced to producing low-budget films as it once did instead of blockbusters like its recent Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Journal did (more)

GOLDEN PARACHUTES FOR NEW LINE FOUNDERS?
Tuesday, January 22 2008

Following a planned meeting this week with new Time Warner Chairman Jeff Bewkes, New Line Cinema founders Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are expected to be terminated and New Line's projects, including The Hobbit, folded into Warner Bros., L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke reported on her Deadline Hollywood Daily blog Monday, citing no sources. With the exception of last year's Hairspray, New Line has had a nearly uninterrupted string of financial failures since its Lord (more)

	Film Profile: LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
	Film Profile: LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS
	Film Profile: LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING