The road toward a live-action film adaptation of The Hobbit has been so long and convoluted, it seems the movie's backstory could make a compelling feature in its own right. This week's update: New Line Cinema—the studio responsible for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and currently slated to produce The Hobbit—has been sued by the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Associated Press reports that, according to the Tolkien estate, New Line was supposed to pay 7.5 percent of the profit made by the Rings franchise—which has grossed over $6 billion worldwide—but they've yet to pay even a cent.

Tolkien's estate filed the suit along with HarperCollins, the publisher of Tolkien's novels, in the Los Angeles Superior Court. They are asking for $150 million in damage compensation, as well as a court order forbidding New Line to go ahead with The Hobbit.

The New York Times notes that this is hardly the first lawsuit to stem from Tolkien's work. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series have prompted a long series of litigations, notably the suit settled by Peter Jackson in December, and a recent suit filed by Saul Zaentz, who charged New Line with denying its attempts to audit the accounting of the movie series.

As for the fate of The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro—who has been in talks to direct the film—claims to know very little about the lawsuit or the fate of the film, simply noting that The Hobbit is "still in talks," but not definite.

In other movie news:

New Indiana Jones trailer debuts (Yahoo Movies)
First look at long-awaited sequel

Paul Bettany cast as archangel Michael (Variety)
Legion tells story of humanity fighting off swarm of angels

Oscar Isaac cast in drama about Christianity, atheism (Hollywood Reporter)
Previously played Joseph in The Nativity Story

Passion screenwriter sues Mel Gibson (People)
Benedict Fitzgerald accuses Gibson of fraud, breach of contract

Peter Gabriel composing for Wall-E (Cinema Blend)
Pop singer, film composer working with Pixar team

Al Pacino to appear in next James Bond film (The West)
Actor rumored to have cameo as terrorist leader

Three actors replace Ledger in Dr. Parnassus (Cinematical)
Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell join Terry Gilliam's film

Jim Jarmusch, Bill Murray reunite (Reuters)
Tilda Swinton also cast in The Limits of Control

© Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Read more  'News'

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today FREE! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Christianity Today as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

Subscribe to the FREE CT at the Movies Newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help