Lawsuit by Tolkien Estate may halt The Hobbit

[Bêthberry]

Well, it doesn't really say "halt" The Hobbit. It suggests there is a struggle to see who controls the profits from such a production. How interesting, though, to have the rights revert back to the Estate.

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Well, it doesn't really say "halt" The Hobbit. It suggests there is a struggle to see who controls the profits from such a production. How interesting, though, to have the rights revert back to the Estate.

The risk for New Line is that if the case goes to trial they may lose - this could mean not only having to pay out hundreds of millions to the Estate and Harper Collins but ALSO losing the rights to the Hobbit films (which could be worth billions).

I'm surprised that they haven't offered a hundred million (or so) to make this go away.

To be sure, even if New Line lose they can appeal, but it's not like the Tolkien family are paupers. New Line can't prolong this case until the Tolkien's run out of money. New Line would probably go broke before the Tolkien's did!

[Mithadan]

Hmmm. Do I detect the presence of another lawyer on the site?

The real issue seems to be, will New Line want to sink millions into doing preproduction and signing talent for the movie if their rights to distribute it are at all in question?

[Mithalwen]

Several I think (not me), Bill Hicklin & SpM for a start. There have been a couple of threads on this but I recall them becoming bad tempered so I will let them lie.

[davem]

Isn't the latest theory that one of the plaintiffs, Harper Collins' owner Mr R. Murdoch, is hoping that if Warner lose the distribution rights then Fox (coincidentally also owned by Mr M) will inherit them? http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2009/07/f...-hobbit-films/

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

The real issue seems to be, will New Line want to sink millions into doing preproduction and signing talent for the movie if their rights to distribute it are at all in question?

Well ... some money has already been sunk into this movie. Guillermo del Toro is involved and he can't be doing it for free. Screenplays are being written.

My understanding is that preproduction goes full speed ahead this September, so yes - it's a hell of a risk if they lose the rights in October.

It would be interesting, to say the least, if the rights reverted back to the Tolkien Estate. I suspect that at this point they (and by 'they' I principally mean CJRT) probably wouldn't kill off the movie, BUT you can imagine the Estate wanting script approval.

Now ... looking at the contract I see that (7.5% of) the movie's gross is split between the Estate and the publishers (after production costs are deducted). So ... does that mean the rights revert back to the Estate AND the publishers in the event of a breach? I'd better have another look.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

It would be interesting, to say the least, if the rights reverted back to the Tolkien Estate. I suspect that at this point they (and by 'they' I principally mean CJRT) probably wouldn't kill off the movie, BUT you can imagine the Estate wanting script approval.

That might not be a bad result. If CT had been active in LOTR movies some
of the worst "innovations" might have been avoided. But my impression is
he hasn't ever been in favor of movie adaptations.

[Mithalwen]

No they wouldn't. Authors almost never have any clout over what film makers do with their works when the rights have been sold .... a notable exception being JK Rowling who had the advantage of not having completed the series at the start of filming and could say you can't do x because it compromises something in a later book.

If you want a contemporary example, look at "My sister's keeper" . Despite probably paying a substantial amount for a work by a bestselling author, Warner Bros decided to turn an intelligent story with serious issues and a twist in the tale in to a routine tearjerker by changing the ending which somewhat missed the whole point of the book. Jodi Picoult has explicitly said on her website that it was completely out of her control and all complaints should be directed at the film makers.

Being extremely grateful that CT has spent decades of his life bringing so much of his father's writing to mass audience, I am glad that he wasn't obliged to spend any time on an entreprise he had no interest in. I can only imagine that he, more than anyone, can see Middle Earth in his mind's eye and has no need of film makers to realise it for him. May he spend what years are left to him in his own amusement...

Maybe I should dig up the old threads since WCH being both a lawyer and a
and correspondent of Christopher Tolkien made a number of well informed posts...

[davem]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

No they wouldn't. Authors almost never have any clout over what film makers do with their works when the right have been sold .... a notable exception being JK Rowling who had the advantage of not having completed the series at the start of filming and could say you can't do x because it compromises something in a later book.

.

On the subject of JKR & the Harry Potter movies, Orson Card makes some interesting points

The only point of comparison is Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Without denying his magnificent filmmaking achievement, I still have to point out that in almost every case where he changed significant plot points from the book, leaving some out and adding new ones, he cheapened and worsened the resulting story.

Part of this is that Jackson's writing team was not as good as the two writers who have worked on the Harry Potter films. LORD OF THE RINGS reeks of film-school bushwa in its silliest and most damaging changes.

But most of the difference is simply that Tolkien did not need cutting. He was already quite spare. Scene for scene, there is no waste. Rowling, on the other hand, is not (and has never claimed to be) a writer of Tolkien's talent, skill, or insight. Her novels COULD be cut, and indeed needed to be, and so better writers working with more uneven books were able to improve on Rowling, where Jackson's team could only damage Tolkien.

The result is that in a way, the Harry Potter series becomes, after the first two films, a FILM achievement that was more difficult and more remarkable than Jackson's undoubted achievement with LORD OF THE RINGS.http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/...4355119093.txt