Post by Nienna Greenleaf of Mirkwood on Mar 3, 2005 19:14:23 GMT -6
Jackson Seeks "Ring" Riches
By Charlie Amter
Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson is looking for the return of the bling.
The New Zealand-based filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against his Oscar-winning trilogy's distributor, New Line Cinema, claiming the studio has stiffed him on potentially millions of dollars in profits from the first Rings installment, 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring.
Jackson's production company, Wingnut Films, filed the suit Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, charging New Line and subsidiary Katja Motion Pictures with some book-cooking when it came to accounting for DVD sales. The director also believes New Line gave sweetheart deals to its affiliates when it came to working out licensing agreements, instead of shopping the movie around to get a bigger payday.
Per the suit, New Line failed to procure additional licensing revenue "without first seeking the most competitive and beneficial deals from unaffiliated third parties in a free and open market."
Jackson is seeking unspecified damages in addition to a court order barring New Line from striking similar licensing deals with any affiliates for the Ring flicks.
Jackson reportedly was given 5 percent of the gross for each Lord of the Rings film, in addition to his $10 million salary for the trilogy.
The Fellowship of the Ring is currently the 16th highest grossing domestic film of all time, taking in nearly $317 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. It grossed $556 million worldwide. Fellowship also generated $257 million in U.S. DVD sales in 2002 alone, according to video tracker Reed Business. Its merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to toys, generated tens of millions more.
Of course, it's not like the two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker needs the cash. He's pocketing a whopping $20 million for writing and directing Universal Pictures' hugely anticipated update of King Kong
The great ape flick, starring Naomi Watts, is nearing 100 days of production on a 1930s New York City set built in New Zealand. The film is slated to open Dec. 13.
After Kong, Jackson is set to helm an adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel, The Lovely Bones.
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So what do you think? Should PJ get the money that he's owed? Personally, I think that because of the fantastic work that he did on the trilogy that he deserves the money. If this money was his and he was jipped out of getting it, I believe that it he is owed it. Peter Jackson really put his sweat and blood into this project (and so did everyone else that worked on it) and as far as I know (and I've heard on the appendices for all three movies by the cast), Jackson is NOT a gold digger. And I can even see how he is when he speaks about the making of the movies. There is nothing else but pure enthusiasm and respect for turning Tolkien's wonderful books into a living, breathing masterpiece.
But it was a little disappointing to hear that he's already got another movie lined up after King Kong.
The naive part of me was hoping that by that point they would have already worked out the whole thing of the rights for The Hobbit. *sigh* It's really not looking too good... 
~ Nienna
By Charlie Amter
Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson is looking for the return of the bling.
The New Zealand-based filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against his Oscar-winning trilogy's distributor, New Line Cinema, claiming the studio has stiffed him on potentially millions of dollars in profits from the first Rings installment, 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring.
Jackson's production company, Wingnut Films, filed the suit Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, charging New Line and subsidiary Katja Motion Pictures with some book-cooking when it came to accounting for DVD sales. The director also believes New Line gave sweetheart deals to its affiliates when it came to working out licensing agreements, instead of shopping the movie around to get a bigger payday.
Per the suit, New Line failed to procure additional licensing revenue "without first seeking the most competitive and beneficial deals from unaffiliated third parties in a free and open market."
Jackson is seeking unspecified damages in addition to a court order barring New Line from striking similar licensing deals with any affiliates for the Ring flicks.
Jackson reportedly was given 5 percent of the gross for each Lord of the Rings film, in addition to his $10 million salary for the trilogy.
The Fellowship of the Ring is currently the 16th highest grossing domestic film of all time, taking in nearly $317 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. It grossed $556 million worldwide. Fellowship also generated $257 million in U.S. DVD sales in 2002 alone, according to video tracker Reed Business. Its merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to toys, generated tens of millions more.
Of course, it's not like the two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker needs the cash. He's pocketing a whopping $20 million for writing and directing Universal Pictures' hugely anticipated update of King Kong
The great ape flick, starring Naomi Watts, is nearing 100 days of production on a 1930s New York City set built in New Zealand. The film is slated to open Dec. 13.
After Kong, Jackson is set to helm an adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel, The Lovely Bones.
___________________
So what do you think? Should PJ get the money that he's owed? Personally, I think that because of the fantastic work that he did on the trilogy that he deserves the money. If this money was his and he was jipped out of getting it, I believe that it he is owed it. Peter Jackson really put his sweat and blood into this project (and so did everyone else that worked on it) and as far as I know (and I've heard on the appendices for all three movies by the cast), Jackson is NOT a gold digger. And I can even see how he is when he speaks about the making of the movies. There is nothing else but pure enthusiasm and respect for turning Tolkien's wonderful books into a living, breathing masterpiece.
But it was a little disappointing to hear that he's already got another movie lined up after King Kong.
The naive part of me was hoping that by that point they would have already worked out the whole thing of the rights for The Hobbit. *sigh* It's really not looking too good... 
~ Nienna
. But he is the greatest person ever and I ♥ him!