Legal News

There and back again: suit settlement allows 'Hobbit' films to go forward

By Richard Binder

Last year, two of Tolkien's children, Christopher, 84, and Priscilla, 80, sued New Line, now a unit of Warner Bros., for an estimated $150 million that they claimed was owed from the three Lord of the Rings movies. The lawsuit, which alleged breach of contract and fraud, claimed that the heirs had not received any money under a preexisting licensing agreement that guaranteed them 7.5% of the films' gross receipts.

Yesterday, the parties announced that they had settled the lawsuit but declined to disclose terms.

The lawsuit, which sought to terminate New Line's rights to all of Tolkien's works including The Hobbit until the claims were resolved, was settled in the nick of time. Not only were the plaintiffs scheduled to go to trial Oct. 19, but the two Hobbit movies are slated to go into production next year with director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson.

The trustees' attorney, Bonnie Eskenazi, said a "significant portion" of the settlement will go to the London-based Tolkien Trust, which distributes money to charities such as Save the Children and UNICEF.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on September 09, 2009 (boomark / email).