Rob W 0 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 'Huge award' in Rings court fight A movie producer earned $168m (£94m) from The Lord of the Rings films even though he did not work on the trilogy, trade paper Variety has reported. Saul Zaentz got the payout from film studio New Line because he bought the rights to JRR Tolkien's books in 1976. The windfall is revealed in court papers after New Line settled a legal wrangle with Mr Zaentz, Variety said. He sued New Line for a further $20m (£11m), saying they miscalculated the box office royalties he was owed. The three Lord of the Rings films made more than $2.9bn (£1.6bn) at box offices around the world and the final instalment won 11 Oscars. He retained the rights to The Lord of the Rings after making an animated adventure in 1978. Variety said neither side would reveal how much New Line paid Mr Zaentz to settle the legal action. Mr Zaentz claimed New Line based his share of royalties from foreign distributors on net income but said it should have been worked out from the gross profits. New Line still faces a legal challenge from the trilogy's director Peter Jackson, who says the company withheld his share of profits from the first film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Manson 0 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Wanker. Not you Rob him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus 0 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 he owns the rights - why shouldnt he make a few quid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sima Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Good on him tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Lazaru 0 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 If he owned the rights he was going to get his money. Anyway New Line can console themselves with the billions they have left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM4 0 Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 Good on him tbh. 23884[/snapback] exactly, he's waited over 20 years for his cunning plan to work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Manson 0 Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 If he owned the rights he was going to get his money. Anyway New Line can console themselves with the billions they have left! 23889[/snapback] The wankers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted August 31, 2005 Author Share Posted August 31, 2005 Surprised he held on sooooo long.. and what he paid originally................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now