Trust me.
Posted on 07/16/2009 6:59:56 PM PDT by ruination
New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson may have more in common with JRR Tolkien's heirs than he thought - they are also complaining about big studio accounting methods.
Tolkien's family and a British charity they head, the Tolkien Trust, are seeking more than $US220 million ($276.94 million) in compensation for the Lord of the Rings trilogy Jackson made in New Zealand.
The Tolkien heirs sold movie rights to the LOTR books 40 years ago for 7.5 per cent of future receipts, but say that three films and $US6 billion ($7.55 billion) later, they have not seen a cent of the proceeds.
Jackson himself threatened to sue the New Line studio in a separate row over royalties from the Lord of the Rings, leading then studio chief Bob Shaye to declare that the New Zealander would "never" make The Hobbit.
So who is directing the hobbit?
Couldn’t do better than what Jackson did with LOTR. Didn’t even think they could have pulled it off.
Guillermo Del Toro is set up to direct both Hobbit films.
I think Guillermo del Toro, with Jackson heading production. As long as slimy studio bosses like the repulsive Bob Shaye don’t mess things up, they should be good.
Under the old copyright legal tradition, the “heirs” would have long since lost their claims.
Sad they weren’t clued in. As they say here in LA, “there’s no such thing as a back end.”
It also keeps Bawnry Fwank from moving here.
I guess their creativity extends to their bookkeeping.
No they wouldn’t have because they sold the movie rights 40 years ago under the old system and that contract is still legal and still enforceable and they’ve been gipped by a slimy studio.
7.5% of receipts is a tidy sum that they haven’t seen a penny of and it’s been 3 years since the last LOTR was made. Somebody belongs in freaking jail, IMO.
Ping
Having worked in Hollywood, I can tell you these left wing producers are the greediest thieve on earth. They even rip each other off.
Always a % of the GROSS RECEIPTS!!!!
AND, a very strict payment schedule!!!
Like, MONTHLY!!!
It also keeps Bawnry Fwank from moving here.
Much to Waxman's frustration.
It also keeps Bawnry Fwank from moving here.
Much to Waxman’s frustration.
THAT would be a cute couple...Pig Man and the Soiled Unmade Bed...
Trust me.
“Guillermo Del Toro is set up to direct both Hobbit films.”
They’re going to be set in Spain during the Franco regime.
Gollum will be a Spanish Fascist and Bilbo will be a freedom fighter.
Sorry, some of Del Toro’s stuff makes me gag.
This is pretty typical for Hollywood. Studios never ‘make’ money on any film. They charge off for “studio overhead” at $500,000 per day; etc. By their accounting, they always lose money.
And if you want to sue them, you’ve got to hire your own accountants to do an audit of the entire studio books (at $500 a day?) to work forever and ever; plus pay attorneys, etc.
And even then you might lose.
(Morale to the story: get all your money up front; or a percentage based on the GROSS receipts, not the NET; and get it paid AT ONCE, like YESTERDAY, not later.)
I like LOTR, but they totally cut out Tom Bombadil. They also left out the scene with elves between the flight from the Shire to the meeting with Aragorn at the Prancing Pony.
I’ve not figured out why those omissions, other than time and budget. Other than those, they kept fairly well to the storyline, iirc.
I hope the family sues them to hell and back and wins.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.