Leading Lord of the Rings movie blog TheOneRing.net is reporting that a tentative settlement has been reached in the lawsuit between the heirs of author JRR Tolkien and New Line Cinema. The suit threatened to derail production of New Line's upcoming two part film adaptation of The Hobbit.
TORn quotes their anonymous source:
A tentative settlement has been reached in the case... but it needs to be approved by certain unnamed individuals/entities. ...I’m relatively sure that it includes specifications to ensure that payments are made on the Hobbit films... In all likelihood, this case is no longer going to provide any obstacle to the Hobbit films.
The lawsuit was filed in February 2008 by the Tolkien Trust, the British charity founded in 1977 that manages Tolkien's estate. It alleges that New Line has failed to pay Tolkien's heirs more than $220 million. The Trust claims that under a contract signed by Tolkien in 1969, his heirs and others are owed 7.5% of the films' gross receipts and related profits.
The case was expected to go to trial in October.
The three films cost $285 million to produce, market and distribute. To-date they have generated $2.8 billion in gross revenue.
Comments
Hello Erik. As The One Ring Net reports, this is most certainly not a rumor. The one who reported is not anonymous, he is a legal expert and has kept us posted about the lawsuit for more than a year, always beyond the silly and unbased rumors that have circulated throught the web. Just something worth noting!
I characterized the report as a "rumor" because it is a report by a single individual, which has not been verified by the court or by either party to the case. Referring to the report as a "rumor" is not a criticism, nor a judgment either way on its veracity.
The source of the rumor is known by the online handle "Voronwë_the_Faithful," and not by his or her legal name. This makes this person an "anonymous" source. However, it is true that this person is known to the editors of TORn; posts on various Tolkien community sites under this name; and has a consistent online presence. In this sense, Voronwë_the_Faithful is not anonymous.
But a reasonably thorough search of Google did not reveal Voronwë_the_Faithful's real world identity. Unless this person wishes to publicly reveal his or her identity and credentials (and he or she is under no obligation to do so), any information this source provides must be viewed as a "rumor" from an "anonymous" source.
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