Speak 'Lawsuit' and enter

The scores of people who are excited for a Guillermo del Toro helmed The Hobbit may be in for a wicked let down. Stepping in to throw a big fat wrench in the production gears are Tolkien's living heirs looking for their supposed piece of the LOTR pie which they claim they have not been given. And it's not a small piece.

In 1969, Tolkien himself sold off the film rights for a mere £250,000, but also claims 7.5% of future profits. And therein lies the problem. That 7.5% of future profits, the Tolkien estate claims, has never been paid, and they are looking for they're legally owed cash. What does this mean for New Line and the current production? Bad news. The LOTR franchise in film has earned over $6bil US dollar in box office and on DVD, so if you do that math, 7.5% of $6bill is holy shit to be exact.

Actually, the number they're asking for is $220mil, which, if you subtract that from the budget for The Hobbit, leaves Peter Jackson (Producer) with precisely.....dick. And the real kicker is, that if New Line were forced to pay the bucks to them, the Tolkien estate is also claiming breach of contract, which means they would regain rights to any further film adaptations. That's the final nail in the coffin. No rights, no movie. That's that.

Of course this has yet to go to trial and a more friendly agreement may come to pass as New Line has had to deal with numerous other legal issues, some with Peter Jackson himself, so don't yet lose all hope. However, in typical tough lady lawyer talk, lawyer for Christopher Tolkien Bonnie Eskanazi stated:

Should the case go all the way to trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its rights to The Hobbit.

EEK! Kind of a foreboding quote don't you think? There's a lot to be said about friendly settlements, but should this go to trial, even if New Line eventually wins, the rights will be tied up in litigation, possibly delaying the film. 

Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson are currently in New Zealand together getting the script in order and getting ready to get into heavy preproduction. But this latest development will be about as helpful as Isildur not throwing the ring into the fires of Mount Doom in the first place.

Look for The Hobbit in 2011...hopefully.