Tolkien Estate Suing New Line Cinema

JRR Tolkien's estate, The Tolkien Trust, in conjunction with HarperCollins, is suing movie company, New Line Cinema, for non-payment.

According to the lawsuit filed earlier today in Los Angeles Superior Court, New Line Cinema failed to cough-up the 7.5% interest on gross profits from the blockbuster Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The three films, released between 2001 and 2003, brought in almost $6 billion worldwide! The plaintiffs seek $150 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount for punitive damages.

The real deathblow is that they are also seeking permission to terminate the rights New Line Cinema holds on all other Tolkien properties, including the forthcoming The Hobbit films.

A spokesperson for the Tolkien Trust said they "do not file lawsuits lightly," and that New Line Cinema "has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts."

Lastly, he also said the movie company has blocked the plaintiffs from auditing the receipts from the last two films.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008