Tolkien Estate Suing New Line Cinema
Posted on by Ian

According to the Associated Press the estate of writer J.R.R. Tolkien have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against New Line Cinema, claiming that they have as yet received no money from the movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings. They are seeking $150 million in compensation and the right to cancel New Line’s right to produce any further Tolkien works in movie form. If they were to win their case this would clearly leave an already struggling company on the brink of ruin. This litigation can only throw more doubt on the possibility that there will be sequels to The Golden Compass movie produced. Read the full story here.

About Ian

A keen fan of His Dark Materials and Philip Pullman. Assistant to Paul Temple and Sir Graham Forbes.
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23 Responses to Tolkien Estate Suing New Line Cinema

  1. Karine says:

    It never ends..

  2. Brian says:

    Not looking too promising, is it.

  3. Conor says:

    its not meant to be…

  4. Matthew says:

    Pssst, New Line… The HDM rights are not contested… lower the budget, don’t sell the foreign rights, and get to work!

  5. Aaron says:

    I really do home New Line is pushed out of the way. Sequels to HDM should be given to deserving film companies, not one that tore apart the first film.

    Shame, shame.

  6. Greg says:

    Aaron, you are so right. New Line didn’t do enough for the Golden Compass. I pray that there will be sequels, but I hope another company does it, because I get the feeling that New Line will sell the rights to the books if their situation gets much worse. Hoping for the best.

  7. Conor says:

    i want to be in sequals…. but they might not hold open auditions…

    because of this…

  8. Liz says:

    i have an idea… they should put the tgc original ending (lyra walking thru the doorway to citagzze) onto a special edition dvd, as an “extra”. so if they dont film the sequels, we still get to see that scene. but, if they do the sequels thnen it will be like a preview. you know how they had the first 5 mins of tgc showing for free on the internet, to get people to want to see the whole movie, well this scene could be the “teaser” for tsk… see what i mean?

  9. ian says:

    Cool idea Liz. Maybe, New Line will want another DVD release (director’s cut} to earn more money.

    As for the sequels, they will be made over time.

  10. Jacob says:

    The last line of the post is pure conjecture.

  11. Ian says:

    Not really. It’s fair to assume that someone, somewhere, will eventually adapt the full trilogy…

  12. tim says:

    “Poisoned chalice”

  13. Jacob says:

    Sure, it’s very likely that you’re right; however, in a news article, it is unnecessary, out of place, and unprofessional to editorialize like that.

  14. foulksy says:

    omg! what happened to warner taking over!! NL sell the rights!

  15. mark scoresby says:

    To Conor:I thought you said New Line were makin the Subtle
    Knife

  16. Grumman says:

    That’s most unfair. New Line introduced a whole new generation to Tolkien. If it hadn’t been for the movies, they would have sold 1/10 of what they’ve sold in the past 7 years.

  17. mits says:

    True that NL introduced the new generation to Tolkien but still the Tolkien estate should get some money out of it. I hope that another company goes on with HDM, as NL did make a mess of it (A REALLY BIG MESS).

    If there is a directors cut, for the love of god I hope they change the song in the credits (…Lyra, Lyra… and her soul walks beside her and her face is full of grace…)

  18. cabecinha do agreste says:

    I wish Peter Jackson to make another Gonden Compass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  19. Sam says:

    Oh, man! That’s harsh. Sure, I didn’t think New Line did the best they could with the GC adaptation, but I didn’t want to see them on… you know, the Eve Of Destruction. These are the people who brought us Rush Hour, after all.

    @Grumman: Sure, it’s a whole new world for Frodo et. al. But it’s a whole new world for Lyra, too–literally. I doubt Pullman would be satisfied with just spreading his story to new audiences, and I doubt he would content himself with selling a bunch of merchandise. Go Tolkien!

  20. Ian says:

    It may be conjecture Jacob, but we can hardly broadcast that sequels are coming. Nothing wrong with saying what everybody is thinking, when it isn’t offensive.

    As goes for sales figures, Grumman, I guess their objection is that they no longer make money on Tolkien’s books – after all – Lord of the Rings is out of copyright, which means they’re making no money on the books. Clearly they’re interested in getting their money back… Unless I’m mistaken in my facts. Can’t really remember…

  21. cc says:

    Copyright continues 50 years after the death of an author. Tolkien died in 1973, they are making money off the books but- newsflash- they probably care more about Tolkiens laegacy and what he would have wanted for his work. The lawsuit is a point of honour. I watched Golden Compass on Saturday. It was a travesty. I felt empty after watching it, the dialogue was excerable, characterisation non-existant and there is no way that the movie looks like it cost $180 million. Fall New Line! like satan falls in Paradise Lost “in hideous ruin and combustion”, how dare they try and foist this rubbish on us.

  22. Bob Trueman says:

    Who on earth is ‘CC’? Having read HDM and ‘Paradise Lost’ I feel I must say that the film of ‘Northern Lights’ was many light years ahead of any other film I’ve seen recently. Pullman points out that the book takes 12 hours to read aloud, and the film is only 2 hours long. Yes, the end chapter featuring the murder of Roger was left out, but it would have been a terrifying note to finish the first film off with. Far better at the beginning of film 2 (Subtle Knife). As for the dialogue, as a writer f films myself, I thought Weiss did a great job, so THERE,CC! Also, the CGI was great, as was the superb casting. Sam Elliot at Lee Scoresby was brilliant.

  23. keytotheworlds says:

    PLZ MAKE THE OTHER BOOKS A MOVIE I WANT TO SEE HOW IT END