goodbye, Hobbit
Aziz P
I guess this is goodbye, for a while.
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No one ever wants to kill the cash cow.
New Line does seem to have acted pretty unethically, though we haven't heard both sides of the story yet.
Meanwhile, the original agreement terms were picked up by Hollywood producer Saul Zaentz, who produced an animated film in 1978 based on the "Rings" books, and eventually licensed the rights to make live-action films to New Line.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they have spent the years since the movies hit theaters trying to negotiate a settlement with New Line.
Other disputes over the film's earnings have surfaced in recent years.
In 2004, Zaentz sued New Line, claiming the studio cheated him out of $20 million in royalties from the film trilogy, which he optioned to New Line for a percentage of the movies' profits.
So from this it appears Zaentz is actually the party that owns the rights.
Professor Tolkien's family has a history, too. Not of unethical behavior, but simply of being absolute bulldogs about getting what they feel is their due. That could make this a hard situation to resolve.
They'll fight it out in court while the production is happening, and then settle for an "undisclosed sum."
I can see where the Tolkien estate is coming from, but ironically Tolkien himself was very explicit about wanting his Middle Earth creations to be 'open-source' as it were...his intention was to create a new mythology that others would build upon and expand. He was a big Saxon revivalist, and wanted to project how British culture would have developed had it not been aborted by the Norman invasion of 1066.
Brilliant linguist and metahistorian, that man.
It seems to be standard operating procedure; that's why you should try to get as large an advance as you can because most likely that's all the money you'll ever see. I've heard its the same in book publishing, though I don't know.
I wrote and directed a really, really low budget horror film back in the '80's, on 16mm, (it was also really, really bad, just ask Scott Kirwin) and went into a "percentage of the net" deal. This is generally bad no matter how you slice it but I wanted my film "out there". Anyway, I never saw a dime and then the distributor disappeared.
Years later, I was contacted by another filmmaker who had dealings with this person and managed to track him down and somehow got access to the books.
It turned out this distributor owed money to more than 80 filmmakers and the amount he owed me was enough to return my entire budget. This filmmaker was bringing a lawsuit against the distributor and wanted me and all the other filmmakers involved in it. I politely declined as I pretty much knew how it would go; we'd win and collect little to nothing anyway. Later I learned that's exactly what happened.
The reason this happens so much and easily in films is because a producer or distributor is selling dreams.
If you have a film and a distributor can get it on television or in the new release section of every Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, etc., it might be just too cool to pass up.
There's a story about a famous low-budget Hollywood producer (who will remain nameless) back in the 70's that would say to young screenwriter/directors looking to break into the business, "I'll buy your screenplay for $15,000. Or I'll buy it and let you direct the film for $10,000."
If someone is able and willing to make your dream come true, they hold all the cards.
A friend of mine has had a film running late night on a major cable network (which will remain nameless) since the middle of last year and has yet to see a dime. I'm sure he eventually will see something but he's resolved himself to the fact he'll never make his budget back.
It's very common. But nonetheless, there are decent people in production/distribution. About 12 years ago, I received a royalty check from a film distributor and noticed he overpaid me. When I let him know and he realized I was right, he told me to keep it. A cynical filmmaker friend commented that the distributor probably owed me more; that he was still screwing me. That might have been right, but either way he let me keep money that I was willing to give back.
And I think my current distributor is very honest; I and my producer are very happy with them.
I know I got off topic from the Hobbit film, but this is peripherally related to the common occurrence of percentage deals, and other money-related issues in showbiz.
But maybe the estate did drop the ball in 1978. The contract with Zaentz should settle the matter.
The plaintiff seems a little slow. LOTR must have started production at least five years ago. That was the time to establish terms.
And did New Line make any contract with the estate? Or did they run with only the Zaentz contract?
Overall this is a miserable situation. And one that screams for punitive damages if New Line has actually obstructed payments.
If I read it correctly, the terms were already established; the plaintiff was supposed to received a percentage of the gross.
It seems slow because I'm sure the plaintiff waited for what was deemed a reasonable amount of time to start receiving payments.
Then I suppose attorneys on both sides talked for months to try to work something out before a suit was filed. Nothing moves very fast in that arena.
He was only going to produce. Last I heard, Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) was being tapped to direct.
Hollywood's (and New Line's) highly suspicious accounting practices aside, I have have mixed feelings about this sort of thing. However much I enjoy Tolkien's works, I think his books and the associated movie rights should've transitioned into the public domain years ago. Copyright was never intended to be perpetual in the US or in Britain, and there's no particular reason anyone's heirs should be entitled to this sort of control.
The movie industry is more often than not financed by pimps and prostitutes who know that if they cut the investment into small enough chucks and spread out the pain then few individuals ever want to go through the hassle of suing, much less collecting. (Collecting is an entirely different matter from suing. Many will sue, few will collect, and almost no-one ever collects what they win, so they settle, and even then...)
It's a shit business where the money is concerned for profit and investment. If you want to make money as an investor or a collecting party, stay outta films. Get paid instead. Or be the one with a direct interest in the capital or the guy who taps investors with a fish-hook disguised as a candy-cane. Because like Jack said in films they're selling dreams and most people don't know the difference between their imaginings and the pavement that their chin is gonna split open on.
Artists and artistes alike will do it anyway though because truth be told almost all art is a shit business when it comes to money. So a wink is as good as a nod.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.