Posted on 12/04/2014 8:54:23 AM PST by bkopto
Peter Jackson has said he won't be making anymore movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien's work, because the estate won't let him.
SNIP
The writer's son Christopher, who was appointed by his father as his literary executor, said that he was disappointed by the way the movies had diluted the artistry of the novels.
He told Le Monde in 2012: 'Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of our time.
'The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work and what it has become has overwhelmed me. The commercialisation has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.'
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The contract between the estate and the film studio ensured a profit percentage would go back to them, but despite the Lord Of The Rings trilogy netting a reported $2.9 billion in global box office sales studio bosses said a profit wasn't made when counted against the production costs of all three films.
Tolkien Estate lawyer Cathleen Blackburn told Le Monde in 2012: 'These hugely popular films apparently did not make any profit! We were receiving statements saying that the producers did not owe the Tolkien Estate a dime.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
'These hugely popular films apparently did not make any profit! We were receiving statements saying that the producers did not owe the Tolkien Estate a dime.' No profit? NONE?! That there is no profit is an outrageous lie. These Hollywood types are nothing but thieves, and I don't blame Tolkien's estate one bit.
Not only that, Jackson is a raving leftist moonbat, so screw him.
He’ll change his mind when Hollywood gives the estate a % of gross.
Once you do the Hobbit and LOTR, what else is there? You can’t do the Silmarillion, unless you’re going to make it into a two-season TV series at least; way too much in there. Nobody’s going to understand where Farmer Giles Of Ham is coming from. The Unfinished Tales is basically the pre-Silmarillion but with different names for the principal characters. Scrap the extended-edition Return Of The King and bring back the Scouring of the Shire?
Christopher Tolkien is 90. I don’t believe he’s ever been a big fan of Hollywood. In time he will pass on, a new person will be in charge of the Tolkien Estate, profits will be “found” and perhaps new films will be made. It is the way of the world.
Time to film the “Wheel of Time” novels. I’m pretty sure Robert Jordan’s widow will play ball.
Yep. They were foolish to agree to a piece of the net.
After watching The Hobbit: Legolas Saves the Day, I can see the estate’s concern.
Historically, the movies studios set up costs and grosses to mach with net so they can prove that they made no profit and pay no taxes.
This is why so many of the stars get their money up front, as do the more popular writers.
The rest of it is setup in the exact same manner as the Broadway production in “The Producers”. (Gene and Zero version)
“After what you did to the Hobbit? Are you kidding?”
My question as well. Of course, they've already butchered the Hobbit and turned its concise sweetness into multiple epic screen extravaganzas, so stand by for Lord Of The Rings II - Revenge Of The Orcs with a multiracial cast and a few gay and lesbian subplots. Gosh, I wonder what Chris Tolkien is worried about?
The last Hobbit movie was little more than a string of endless chase scenes.
I only blame them for signing a contract for a percentage of the net rather than gross.
Hollywood is very good about charging the costs of their flops against the income of their blockbusters and having subsidiaries vastly overcharging the main studio for equipment rental, services, production costs and advertising.
The only way for a movie to make money (while the studio is raking in profits hand over fist) is to have a surprise low-budget blockbuster that didn't have the accountants holding it down and emptying its pockets during production. The LotR series didn't surprise anyone.
Take your fixed fee upfront or take a percentage from the gross. There is no net income for movies in Hollywood.
Yes...and Tom Bombadil!
theynwere suposed to. fancy bookkeeping moves according to the movie company say they don’t have tob/c they didn’t make any profit. i find a hard time believing that given they’ve kept on making movies and still wsnt to make more. no movie company wants to keep making movies that don’t make a profit. it’s completely lying to the tolkien estate.
That's an interesting take. I haven't read LOTR but my friends who are big time fans of the books just loved the screen adaption of LOTR.
Agreed. Hollywood’s accounting tricks are well known. Shame on the Tolkien Estate for not retaining a lawyer with experience in such.
Peter is a Kiwi, and his influence can be seen most prominently at the Wellington airport and on Air New Zealand flight safety films, which are a lot of fun. He has beaucoup money from his successes, so good on him. The lawyers for the Tolkien estate didn’t serve their client well for not going for a % of Gross rather than Profit, which we should all know by now can be gerryrigged to be whatever the PTB want it to be. I just find it rather telling how “greedy” a Leftist Moonbat can be by lowballing the benefactor of said Moonbat’s success. (I got no dog in this fight because these movies bored me beyond tears.)
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