If you're a fan of Lord of the Rings, you jumped for joy when you heard that Guillermo Del Toro was to continue the franchise with The Hobbit. The Hobbit takes place before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, telling the tale of Bilbo Baggins. Unfortunately you'll find this news very disappointing. It turns out that it could possibly not see the light of day due to legal issue set forth by the Tolkien family. According to slashfilm.com:
The bottom line is that the Tolkien family claims that they’re owed $220m from New Line to cover back profit payments from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The family heirs are suing New Line claiming breach of contract, and as part of the suit are asking to recover all further film rights to Tolkein’s work. If that somehow went through, The Hobbit film (as currently set up at new Line and MGM) would be toast.
In 1969, JRR Tolkien sold the film rights for 250,000 pounds and 7.5% of future profits. But the family says they haven’t been paid anything out of the trilogy’s $6b worldwide sales. The Guardian reports that New Line lawyers say the original contract terms are ambiguous; Tolkien family lawyer Bonnie Eskenazi says “Should the case go all the way to trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its rights to The Hobbit.”
Read the full article here.
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