Tolkien Heirs Sue Rings Studio Over Profits

Mega-lawsuit could end plans to film The Hobbit
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2008 5:51 AM CST
Tolkien Heirs Sue Rings Studio Over Profits
This is a 1967 photo of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings" and an Oxford University Professor. The estate of Tolkien is suing New Line Cinema, the studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films....   (Associated Press)

Heirs of author JRR Tolkien and publisher HarperCollins are suing the studio that made the Lord of the Rings films, claiming New Line Cinema cheated them out of $150 million in profit participation, Variety reports. The Tolkien Trust, a charity set up by the author's children, is also seeking a decision by a Los Angeles court allowing it to halt any further New Line adaptations of the author's works, including the The Hobbit, which is scheduled to be produced by Peter Jackson for New Line.

The three Rings films raked in nearly $6 billion worldwide but the trust and HarperCollins say they have received nothing. "I cannot imagine how on earth New Line will argue that these films could gross literally billions of dollars, and yet the creator's heirs don't get a penny," said one of the trust's lawyers. The complaint says the trust is entitled to 7.5% of gross profits under a 1969 agreement with United Artists passed along to New Line. (More J. R. R. Tolkien stories.)

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