THE LORD OF THE RINGS - TOLKIEN HEIRS SAY THEY'VE RECEIVED NOTHING FOR RINGS TRILOGY

TOLKIEN HEIRS SAY THEY'VE RECEIVED NOTHING FOR RINGS TRILOGY

By inflating costs and omitting certain revenue in its accounting, Time Warner's New Line Cinema effectively saw to it that the Lord of the Rings movies made no profit and could thereby justify making no payment to the heirs of Rings author J.R. Tolkien, according to a lawsuit filed by the Tolkien family and reported by Bloomberg News on Wednesday. Under terms of the original deal, the Tolkien heirs were to receive 7.5 percent of future movie profits. If the lawsuit comes to trial, more details about Hollywood's accounting practices are expected to be revealed, the wire service observed. It could also result in the Tolkiens snatching away the rights to The Hobbit , which is now in preproduction.

16/07/2009