Del Toro Quits 'The Hobbit'

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Do the movie rights have a shelf life? (

A good question.

Usually movie rights are only sold for a limited period - with a "use it or lose it" clause. If the movie is not made within the specified period then the rights revert to the original owner.

Tolkien famously sold the movie (and merchandising) rights to TH and TLOTR in the late sixties. Forever. In return he got a lump sum of cash and a % of any future movie profits. This agreement is still in effect, but the rights themselves were resold to a fellow called Saul Zaentz in 1976 for a large sum. Zaentz then licensed out the rights to TLOTR to New Line Cinema for (I think) 8 years. During that time New Line were allowed to make films based on TLOTR, issue merchandise, publish tie-in books and use the character names and other trademarks in certain contexts.

There is a slight complication - when the rights were resold to Zaentz in 1976, the distribution rights to TH remained with the previous owners (for reasons that are not entirely clear). So Warner Bros currently own the rights to make TH, but MGM own the rights to distribute the movie. Confusing? You Bet! Complicated? Well, with MGM totally broke, yes.

The rights to make the movie will eventually revert to Zaentz, but MGM will still own the distribution rights, so the problem will still exist. However Warner Bros (or should I say their parent company Time Warner) are currently trying to buy MGM - if this is successful then I would say problem solved.