The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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September 1 : 2009

Tolkien Trust lawsuit tentatively settled!

Voronwë the Faithful, a lawyer, Tolkien fan, and regular Messages Boards participant on TheOneRing.net has broken the news that the Tolkien Trust’s lawsuit against New Line over money owed for the LOTR trilogy has reached a tentative settlement. He quotes a stipulation filed with the court, which states that “the parties have entered into a binding term sheet settling this matter, which term sheet is subject to certain necessary ratifications, which may take up to several weeks to obtain.” Voronwë expresses confidence that those ratifications will come through and that the settlement will proceed successfully. He suspects that these include guarantees that when The Hobbit comes out, the percentage of New Line’s receipts specified back in the 1969 contracts will be paid on it as well. Thanks to Voronwë for sharing this news with us!

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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.”