The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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January 19 : 2010

First round of MGM bidding completed

Variety reported on January 18 that the first round of bidding for MGM’s assets is over. It hasn’t been disclosed which companies made bids, but according to the story:

Time Warner, India’s Reliance Entertainment, Lionsgate, AT&T, Liberty Media, Summit Entertainment and News Corp. are among the most likely bidders. More than a dozen companies have signed nondisclosure agreements allowing them to review MGM’s internal financials.

MGM’s assets include the 4,000-title library, the right to make new James Bond and Pink Panther movies, the Lion logo, the United Artists operations and half ownership of the two “Hobbit” movies.

None of the bids apparently topped $2 million, which was MGM’s target figure. The second round of bidding begins next week, with negotiations going on in the interim.

Reliance may seem an odd member of this group, but it’s a wealthy Indian company that has gone in for co-financing Hollywood films, including especially those of Warner Bros.

As I’ve said before, I don’t think the process of extracting MGM from its financial woes will have much impact on the ongoing production of The Hobbit. Whichever company ends up winning the auction, it will be obliged to honor the contract between MGM and Warner Bros. as it currently exists. Warner may well end up being the new owner of MGM’s assets, in which case the production/distribution rights to The Hobbit will be reunited decades after their separation.

(Note: As I’ve mentioned,Variety online recently became subscription only, so I’m no longer supplying links to stories, but I’ll try to quote and summarize  the most salient portions in reporting on them.)

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    The Frodo Franchise
    by Kristin Thompson

    US flagbuy at best price

    Canadian flagbuy at best price

    UK flagbuy at best price

    Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
    hardcover 978-0-520-24774-1
    421 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 color illustrations; 36 b/w illustrations; 1 map; 1 table

    “Once in a lifetime.”
    The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. The film’s 17 Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood—the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of “infotainment” and the Internet—to satisfy the trilogy’s fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight.

    Kristin Thompson interviewed 76 people to examine the movie’s scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson’s Rings as one the most important films ever made.

    The Frodo Franchise

    cover of Penguin Books’ (NZ) edition of The Frodo Franchise, published September 2007. The tiny subtitle reads: “How ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became a Hollywood blockbuster and put New Zealand on the map.”