Mik 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2008 Wait, studios claimed losses for the Lord of the Rings films? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starks 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2008 Wait, studios claimed losses for the Lord of the Rings films? No, but they disappeared 100's of millions of $$$ from theatre, DVD and merchandising profits so they didn't have to pay the cast and crew the residuals and profit sharing they earned. Multiple Lawsuits were filed by many parties, with New Line claiming they were innocent yet refusing to show their accounting to an independent auditor. A judge even fined them for not producing the books which would clear New Line from any damages if they were telling the truth. Eventually they settled out of court with Peter Jackson and his WETA studios coming on board the Hobbit films. Google Peter Jackson, Bob Shaye, New Line, and lawsuit for all the info. edit... or read EW.com's summary here: The Hobbit: Peace in Middle Earth? ....... The first public indication that all was not well came around 2003. The second LOTR installment, The Two Towers, had earned its billion dollars, and it began to dawn on cast members that they weren't exactly sharing in the wealth. (Two sources close to the production recall a principal player receiving a merchandising residual check for 45 cents.) Eventually, after the bigger-name actors hinted they'd be too busy to do further publicity for the films, New Line coughed up extra bonuses. (The second-tier performers have since filed a lawsuit alleging that the studio withheld merchandising revenues.) Then came rumblings from producer Saul Zaentz. He had bought the film rights to the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit from United Artists back in 1976 — UA partner MGM retains distribution rights to The Hobbit — and in 2004, Zaentz filed a lawsuit too, claiming that New Line wasn't paying all it owed him in royalties. His case was settled a year later for an undisclosed sum, but by then Jackson was elbows deep in his own audit of New Line's financial records. ....... If the audit irked Shaye, the worst was still to come. In February 2005, Jackson filed his suit against New Line, claiming the studio had been dragging its feet providing documents to his auditors. The lawsuit asks for no specific dollar amount in damages, but insists that Jackson be allowed to examine the studio's books, looking into matters such as how New Line, a division of Time Warner, sold the ancillary rights to his films. (Entertainment Weekly is also owned by Time Warner.) In several instances, New Line struck deals with companies within the Time Warner family, such as Warner Bros. Records and the TBS cable network. If Jackson can show that New Line could have signed more profitable deals with outside companies, he might be able to demand some significant lost revenue. ...... But the real pressure on New Line right now is coming from the courts. Last month the company was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents. Even in the weeks before that ruling, there were signs that New Line's hard line was beginning to buckle. ''Notwithstanding our personal quarrels,'' Shaye told the L.A. Times this August, ''I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit.'' ...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ripper 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2008 Will Smith doesn't come close to playing the same role. He doesn't play the exact same guy every time out, no. But he does tend to play a lot of similar roles in some movies. His characters in Independence Day, Bad Boys, Men In Black, Wild Wild West, and so on were all very familiar. Hell, the guys in I, Robot and I Am Legend were just slightly darker versions of those. He's kind of like a Jack Nicholson type; he stretches his range here and there, but often goes back to the same kind of personality for many of his films. Wow dude. Independence Day, Men In Black, Wild Wild West, I give you that. I will say that Mike Lowery was a slightly darker version of those characters. But to saying the I Robot guy and the I am Legend guy were SLIGHTLY darker versions of those characters..come one man. The only thing those characters had in common is that they were black guys. ESPECIALLY the I am Legend guy. The only smile he shot the entire movie was to his kid in one flashback. And that doesn't Mention Ali, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Hitch, Hancock, Enemy of the state and six degrees of separation in which he played wildly different characters. I am starting to think that if you don't throw on a fake accent from time to time people are going to say you always play the same character. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted July 9, 2008 It's better to left what I originally was going to say unsaid. Ripper pretty much covered it. Jingus is wrong btw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2008 But to saying the I Robot guy and the I am Legend guy were SLIGHTLY darker versions of those characters..come one man. All right, remove the "slightly". Those guys were similar to what might've happened to his earlier cop characters if they'd had a lot of rough shit happen to them. They still wisecracked quite a bit, and a Will Smith wisecrack is a Will Smith wisecrack and does make many of his characters feel familiar. Some actors are chameleons who utterly vanish into their roles and are completely different in every movie, the Phillip Seymour Hoffmans of the world; some... are like Will Smith, and put a lot of their own personality on the screen. And that doesn't Mention Ali, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Hitch, Hancock, Enemy of the state and six degrees of separation in which he played wildly different characters. Yes, he doesn't play the same guy in every single movie, and does try to stretch his range. In fact, I said that in my post. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnnyBlaze 0 Report post Posted July 13, 2008 Edit---As bad as I hate it, Tom Cruise still does good box office. That's already started to change. Lions for Lambs absolutely bombed, and Valkyrie looks to be headed down the same path. Man I had no idea they were losing money on LOTR (although i'm not really a fan). I dont know, i saw the valkyrie trailer before indy and I was intrigued, so were most of the other people in the theater... cruise has been solid in just about everything ive seen him in... agree on the will smith sentiments...i think he definitely makes an effort to be different...unlike say a denzel washington.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
