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Great News For The Hobbit: LOTR Lawsuit Finally Settled

Ross Miller — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:18:09 +0000

Today we have some great news for those looking forward to the upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit (and who isn’t?): the project can officially go ahead as the Lord of the Rings lawsuit filed long ago by the Tolkien estate has now been settled.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that New Line Cinema, publisher Harper Collins and the Tolkien estate have come to an agreement in the lawsuit over profits from the three Lord of the Rings films. The quick overview of what the lawsuit was about is as follows: the Tolkien estate sued New Line for damages of at least $150 million because the studio failed to pay the 7.5% of gross receipts that they were supposed to get from what the three LOTR movies made, which combined came to about $6 billion (yowza!).

The estate claimed that it hadn’t been paid “one penny” of what they were owed by the studio. They also had a problem with a lot of the studio’s claimed expenses, some of which included “advertising” payments to AOL, as well as money for production offices and facilities being used for other New Line projects. When the lawsuit was filed by the estate, they also requested a court order that would allow them to stop any productions New Line had planned which are based on any Tolkien works, including The Hobbit.

Although details of the settlement are being kept under wraps, Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R’s eldest son) had the following to say by way of a press release:

“The Trustees regret that legal action was necessary, but are glad that this dispute has been settled on satisfactory terms that will allow the Tolkien Trust properly to pursue its charitable objectives. The Trustees acknowledge that New Line may now proceed with its proposed films of ‘The Hobbit.’”

Warner Bros. President and COO, Alan Horn, had this to add:

“We deeply value the contributions of the Tolkien novels to the success of our films and are pleased to have put this litigation behind us.”

The reason it’s important that the lawsuit has finally been settled is that even though The Hobbit was going into production (as far as we all knew), there may have come a time when the Tolkien estate had the right to terminate it. Just imagine that for a second: director Guillermo del Toro, along with Peter Jackson and whoever they put in place as the primary cast are all underway with production, and out of nowhere it gets shut down because of a lawsuit over (when it comes down to it) money.

Fan reaction would have been worse than if The Joker was recast for the next Batman movie…

Having said that, did anyone really think that the lawsuit wasn’t going to eventually be settled? The Hobbit is one of the most anticipated movies on the horizon (if not THE most anticipated), and is undoubtedly the biggest project that the studio has in the pipeline at the moment. Were they really going to let someone stand in their way if it was just a question of money?

Although, as stated, no details were made available about the settlement, it appears the studio has done the right thing, cut the Tolkien estate their precious (get it?) check and put it all behind them. And now so should we.

What do you think about the Lord of the Rings lawsuit finally being settled: Was the Tolkien estate right to want a court order that could’ve stopped The Hobbit because they weren’t paid what they were owed? Let us know in the comments below.

The Hobbit is now officially able to go ahead, with Part 1 scheduled for a December 2011 release, and Part 2 following a year later in December, 2012.

Source: THR

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Del Toro & Jackson Confirm Structure Of ‘The Hobbit’ Films

Rob Keyes — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:26:36 +0000

For their 20th birthday, Empire was given a few world exclusives including a chat with Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson to discuss and confirm some details surrounding the upcoming pair of Hobbit films.

In the interview, Del Toro and Jackson confirmed that both movies will focus on the story of The Hobbit and that the second of the two would not be a “bridge” film – an idea which had been long-speculated and apparently planned prior.

Del Toro explains how the films will now be organized:

“We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur.”

Jackson followed up by adding a little explanation for why the story needs to be split up amongst two feature films:

“We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie… The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.”

In October of last year, Del Toro revealed where they were (at the time) in writing the scripts and planning the structure of the pair of movies. At that time, he said the first of the two films would end (story-wise) around the 14th chapter of the 19-chapter novel. This meant that the second film would only have five chapters to cover and the rest could be used to tie the story into the trilogy. Del Toro explained that the idea was that after it was all said and done, all five films would flow perfectly together and that the two hobbit films would essentially be one big movie.

“We all agree that if we do our job right, it should all feel like a continuous journey. That’s what we’re striving for….You should see a movie that’s five pictures long. If we do our job right, you put in ‘The Hobbit’ and you wind up watching the entire Pentology!”

I suppose this news dampens the possibility of seeing other familiar faces from The Lord of the Rings trilogy returning. We had heard previously from Viggo Mortensen and Dominic Monaghan that there was strong interest in bringing many characters back to their famous roles for scenes in the second Hobbit movie – a movie that would be focused on bridging the gap between The Hobbit and the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring.

While excited, I’m slightly disappointed. I was really hoping to see them spend time filling in some of the 60 years between the stories and more importantly, to see many familiar faces return in some way, shape or form, to the character roles they perfected in the trilogy.

Who knows, maybe a third film can be made to act as a bridge movie? Doubtful considering story implications and how busy the two masterminds behind this project will be by then, let alone the cast.

What do you think of this news and which format do you prefer?

The first of The Hobbit films is due out in December, 2011 and the second in December, 2012.

Source: Empire

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Dominic Monaghan & Others Returning For The Hobbit?

Rob Keyes — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:23:33 +0000

It seems we may see some of our favorite hobbits make a return to the big screen among other potential returning characters in the upcoming Hobbit films (probably the second one IF it happens).

Back in August, we wrote about Peter Jackson and his two partners in crime finalizing their deal to write the two Hobbit films with Guillermo Del Toro. In that article, it was referenced that Del Toro promised some casting news by December… But that has come and gone and there hasn’t really been any official casting news as of yet.

Later, in October we wrote an update on the writing of the films from an interview with Del Toro - in it he spoke about the creative process and how he and the writing team were all working together on each film as opposed to splitting it up amongst themselves (as they had originally planned to do with Del Toro writing just the second of the pair of films). He confirmed writing was going well and on schedule.

In that post, I talked about how the novel would be split up amongst the two films and it was confirmed by Guillermo that [Spoiler ahead!] the first movie would end with Smaug dying. By our deduction, this occurs in the 14th chapter of the novel, so that leaves only 5 or so chapters of content for the second movie.

This is great news for us fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy as it means we should have plenty of screen time in the second film for it to act as a “bridge” film. This second movie would supposedly tie-in The Hobbit with the trilogy we’ve already seen and loved, allowing all the films to be watched consecutively as a well-flowing pentalogy. It would hopefully jump forward many years after the events of The Hobbit and show us the events leading up to the beginning of the Fellowship.

Why is this important? Well, it means we could (and hopefully!) will see the return of some (many?) of our favorite characters from the trilogy!

We already know Sir Ian McKellen is a must to reprise his role as the lovable wizard Gandalf and that Andy Serkis would be bringing back his Gollum charm to the CGI-animated character. Seeing other characters make a return as well (who are not actually in The Hobbit novel) would be quite a nice surprise to fans.

In our “Weekend Movie News Wrap Up” in late December, we spoke a little bit about Viggo Mortensen discussing his involvement in the project. At the time he had yet to be contacted for the role but he had this to say to MTV:

“I haven’t heard anything. Ian is very proactive. He’s been banging that drum!. It was a very important project to all of us and especially to him I think. He wants to make sure Gandalf is in there and in there early! I’m going to cross that bridge when I get to it. Obviously, I would rather have the chance to play that role myself since I originated it on film than have someone else do it.”

It sounds like he’s interested in doing it and I’m sure the entire fan base would be very interested in seeing Aragorn on screen again.

Now, it looks like Aragorn may not be alone as a potential returnee. In speaking with MTV at the Sundance Film Festival the other day, Dominic Monaghan (Merry from LOTR and Charlie from Lost) says that the producers of The Hobbit want to bring back some of the fan-favorite characters.

“They really want us to come back, and I think there’s a really strong chance that we might be back”

In the interview, he also discusses how it would be easy for him to return to the mindset of being a playful hobbit and that it wouldn’t take much preparation for him to return to the role he and so many others love.

“I’ve been chatting with Pete and [writers] Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] about the chance of us coming back…I think the fans of the first three ‘Lord of the Rings’ films will be charmed by going back into the world.”

Dominic also discusses the idea of extra sequels/prequels not living up to their predecessors as well as the notion of “going back to the well too many times” *cough* Star Wars *cough* and but explains it would be different for this project even though they will be adding many scenes not from the novel to allow these characters to return.

For the complete interview and Dominic’s thoughts on The Hobbit, click here.

I’m stoked on this idea and the more characters they bring back, the better I say. As I said in a previous article, I’d love to see Sean Bean back as Boromir and David Wenham as Faramir, among the many other awesome characters I’d like to see return.

As of yet, there is no word on the other three hobbits – Stay tuned for more!

Are you excited about the two Hobbit films and would you like to see many of the characters make a re-appearance?

The first of The Hobbit films is due out in December, 2011 and the second in December, 2012.

Source: MTV

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Writing Begins On The Hobbit (And It’s Very Good News)

Jamie Williams — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:57:33 +0000

Despite the fact that this belongs in the “Well, duh!” category, it’s still news nonetheless.

Deals have now been finalized (with the ink barely dry) for the Lord of the Rings writing trio of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (who successfully adapted the Tolkien trilogy into a multi-billion dollar grossing franchise and a ton of Academy Awards) to perform scripting duties for its prequel The Hobbit and the currently untitled “bridge” film.

They’ll be typing away alongside its director Guillermo del Toro – who’s now free to fully concentrate on the matter with Hellboy II: The Golden Army in theaters.

Not to sound too much like a smart-ass (I know, too late!) But who honestly thought Jackson, Walsh and Boyens wouldn’t come back? Not that I’m knocking them in any way, shape or form. Hell, they’re probably getting paid a truckload or three worth of money. All power to them!

Now all we need is some casting news which last I remember was promised by Mr. del Toro by this Christmas, correct me if I’m wrong. Anyone care to speculate upon said casting?

I myself can only assume we’ll be seeing del Toro regulars Ron Pearlman and Doug Jones in some capacity.

The Hobbit and its follow-up are currently scheduled for Christmas 2011 and 2012 releases.

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McKellen Talks Hobbits

Jamie Williams — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:15:31 +0000

When it comes to these mega-budget blockbuster tentpoles, the actors generally tend to be the last to know anything.

Nonetheless, it’s always nice to get an update from one of them. The latest example comes from Sir Ian “I’m also Magneto” McKellen regarding The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings “bridge” film; scheduled for Christmas 2010 and 2011 releases.

When asked about his participation in said films, he tells us:

“Yes I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor.”

Has Sir Ian even been approached about any additional Middle-Earth outings to begin with? According to him:

“Encouragingly, Peter and Fran Walsh have told me they couldn’t imagine The Hobbit without their original Gandalf. Their confidence hasn’t yet been confirmed by the director Guillermo del Toro but I am keeping my diary free for 2009!”

One wonders if Jackson and Walsh have the same “unimaginable” thoughts about replacing Sir Ian Holm as Bilbo!

I’ll be honest here, folks. I love McKellen – the fact that the Academy Awards passed him over for Roberto Benigni (!?!) 10 years ago still pisses me off! And it’s beyond awesome that he actually makes it a point to answer questions from his fans.

But if Jackson and Walsh have a falling out with Warner Brothers and walk away from producing/writing the two forthcoming Rings prequels, McKellen will still return as Gandalf no doubt about it.

Remember when his buddy Bryan Singer was having it out with Fox over X-Men 3 and bailed in favor of Superman? He still showed up for The Last Stand under Brett Ratner’s direction.

I’m not knocking the guy. But please, this isn’t an issue of being honorable like he’s suggested in past interviews. Warner Brothers will give him a nice-sized paycheck and, he’ll be on set day one. Even if (God forbid) Uwe Boll winds up as the director.

Source: McKellen.com

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Wow… Peter Jackson IS Directing The Hobbit – In 3D!

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:14:15 +0000

This is BIG news on multiple levels if it turns out to be true. Marketsaw.com, a blog about 3D movies says the not only have New Line and Peter Jackson apparently worked out their differences, but that the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit will be not one, but two movies. Not only that, but they will be shot in 3D!

Peter Jackson will indeed DIRECT The Hobbit! This is my second source telling me this. You can be 100% SURE that this is happening. The story will be split into two separate movies as was previously thought with the second relating much more to Lord of the Rings than the first. Wait, as if that wasn’t enough: Here is the kicker people: The Hobbit will be in 3D.

The sources of this info are the same ones that originated the recent Avatar alien image.

But wait, there’s more…

According to those same sources, New Line and Peter Jackson are then planning on converting the Lord of the Rings trilogy into 3D as well, and re-releasing them in theaters between 2012 and 2014! Personally I don’t know how you’d convert a 2D movie effectively to 3D, but if it’s being talked about I’m sure they have an idea.

If this all turns out to be true (and Marketsaw is pretty damned convinced it is), this is a huge validation for 3D as the next generation of technological advance for the movie theater experience.

This is not official and has not been announced by New Line or Peter Jackson, so you can’t take it to the bank, but it’s sounding pretty solid. Given the growing momentum for 3D and having names like James Cameron (Avatar), Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf) and Steven Spielberg (Tin Tin) pushing for it I’d say it’s likely a solid story.

Can you imagine watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy on the big screen again, but in 3D?

Oh, baby…

Source: Marketsaw.com

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Studio Apologizing: Will Jackson Return To The Hobbit?

Heath McKnight — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:00:50 +0000

A little while back, Peter Jackson asked New Line Cinema to open their Lord of the Rings accounting books, to investigate some strange financial things. The head of the studio Bob Shaye refused, so Jackson filed a lawsuit to have the books opened to see if profits were hidden, after the studio refused to do so.

Shaye, whose New Line, by the way, is owned by Time Warner, then went on a public tirade against the man who made more money for Shaye’s company than Freddy Krueger.

When that happened, Jackson wished everyone the best on The Hobbit film and potential second Lord of the Rings prequel.

So when Jackson started shopping his The Lovely Bones project around, New Line was left out of the bidding. Bets were abound that Shaye would be fired from the company he founded.

Now, word has hit that New Line may be finally trying to make amends with Jackson as The Hobbit starts to get off the ground.

Ain’t It Cool News has this quote from Shaye: “Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit.”

Wow, okay, so it’s a semi-apology. Also, Deadline Hollywood has been on the Shaye story for a while, and is reporting that after publicly chastising director Brett Ratner for the over-budgeted Rush Hour 3, he’s now saying he’ll make some changes to how New Line will be run.

So if Shaye, and apparently New Line even more so, are both trying to make amends with Jackson, will we at least see some involvement with the film? I don’t know; I’d be pretty upset, too, if I asked for the books to be opened on LOTR, but New Line refused, so a lawsuit was filed to audit.

Keep in mind, on the film Coming To America, an audit discovered Paramount had hidden millions in profit owed to star Eddie Murphy, so I don’t blame Jackson. For now, I’m eagerly anticipating his The Lovely Bones adaptation and his eventual Tin Tin movie!

Sources: Ain’t It Cool News and Deadline Hollywood

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