The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
« »

July 15 : 2009

Tolkien Trust lawsuit apparently going to court

Today Bloomberg is reporting that after settlement talks between the Tolkien Trust and New Line Cinema the two sides remain far from agreement and at this point are proceeding to trial. As of now, the trial date is scheduled for October 19 of this year; the case will be tried before a jury in Los Angeles.

The Bloomberg story says that the Trust is demanding payment of over $220 million, based on the percentage of revenues stipulated in the 1969 contracts for the author’s sale of film rights to his novel. The figure originally was $150 million, but the plaintiffs had reserved the right to raise that based on bookkeeping records made available to them for audit. Presumably they’ve now seen such records and have recalculated what is owed.

The author, Brett Pulley, has given a good summary of where things stand now. The two sides seem to be digging in their heels for a tussle. Bonnie Eskenazi, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, is quoted as saying “Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release ‘The Hobbit.’”

On the other hand, Pierce O’Donnell, who represented Art Buchwald in his successful lawsuit against Paramount back in 1988, says, “The studios have historically played hardball in litigation. Also, these are hard times and they maybe think it’s cheaper to pay the lawyers than to pay a large claim. And maybe the lawyers think they have meritorious defenses.” O’Donnell adds that he would bet that some money is owed here. But New Line presumably does have some defenses to present, perhaps not in the hopes of coming away owing nothing but at least to reduce the total it has to pay.

Unless the two sides finally can reach agreement or the case is postponed, we should see this drama finally unfold in court in about three months.

(Thanks for both David Platt and Paolo Pereira for alerting me to this breaking news.)

Note: Voronwë the Faithful (who, as I have mentioned, is a lawyer), recently started a thread on TheOneRing.net’s message boards that is relevant here. He suggests reasons why he doubts that the Tolkien Trust could gain the right to have New Line’s contract to produce The Hobbit taken away.

« »

    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.”