It's not like he's the only one who could do The Hobbit. It should have a different tone than LOTR anyway.

I don't even care about the fucking Hobbit.

Did I get that right or am I misrepresenting it a bit? Anybody else remember that?

additionally, lucas learned he could get rich from running his own studio, which I don't think was his initial intention by the way, and his current net worth is $3.5 billion so when "clever" talkbackers call him LUCA$ they're not kidding

finally, anyone in any form of entertainment should take a lesson from the hiphop community of the late 80s who realized the art form would always be a bit tainted by white record execs, and thus began the great "rapper-owned" studio crazer of the early 90s which continues to this day. I suppose what I'm saying is PJ should starting laying down some hot tracks or waxing poetic...or something...and won't have to worry 'bout no punk ass newmuthafuckinline--does u her meh?

Sorry but this looks crazy good.

I'm surprised Football Factory never got mentioned at all on this site.

I wouldn't blame him if he did. Some of these Directors are described as Dicks and Jerks, but then again have you ever been in charge of a movie? Hell I just went back to the HBO GreenLight Projects and that was hell on earth for little million dollar movies.

Imagine once you get the big budgets what pressure you have to deliver something without losing money and actually turning a great profit from it all for the Studios.

What is important in this TB is that New Line aren't letting anyone near the books. Kinda makes you think that something's fishy about the whole situation. And hell if they did skim a little bit off the top for actors, imagine the piece they might've cut out from under Jackson?

I'm no fan of him, hell I thought King Kong was the best comedic masterpiece of the past 5 years. The whole running with the Dinosaurs part was hilarious, some places they looked like they were running front left to right, but the dinosaurs were also running in a weird angle making this some of the worst CGI ever.

And casting Black, I mean, I like his funny stuff, but this was just bad casting.

As far as the money goes, if Jackson is being ripped off then he should get what they offered from the first day. No more and surely no less.

Refusing acces is one big billboard for "Hey now, we didn't do that, now come on, why would we do that? You don't need to look into it, we told you we gave you everything scouts honor!" and that's as good as "We guilty as hell! And we don't want to pay you a cent!"

Hell the Studio heads who don't want them in the books are probably skiming some off for themselves and they should be fired and charged.

Anyway I'm all for this being posted, it's good to see all sides of the business, not just the happy perfect side all the time. As long as it's not tabloid material and we start posting "Peter Jackson is suing New Line Studios, and his baby alien is mad as hell!"

If a 3rd party audit would help to determine the nature of these missing funds (through perfectly legal and professional means), wouldn't you want to know if you actually received all deserved rewards for your labor?

The folks who think this is about PJ's "greed" are insane. Simply because it involves dollar amounts that probably none of us will ever see in our lifetimes doesn't make it something that PJ should just let slide.

Man... Lotsa stuff to cover, and even more that never did make it to the films, but they were boring...

Like K. Smith said all they did was walk and fight a giant spider, Hell even the trees in that movie walked.

Being a "half" fan of the books (I liked them just didn't fu**ing foam at the mouth at them like some did) I was not hyped up at them making these to a movie in the first place.

I just didn't see this as an "EPIC". All that walking and those 20 different endings at the end, I was just hoping that some nuclear explosion would manifest itself and kill 'em all.

And freaking Elijah Wood, could someone ask him do try to do another face while filming? He's always got that idiot dumbass beaten dog look with his eyebrows tilted. I would've pushed him off in the volcano if I was there!

by the way, my wife teaches poor kids (or tries to) and she says "they steal"

or will classic austin liberal harry knowles join with them and tell us its good for us? now THAT'S a topic worth discussing!

I love it.

I think there's a rule in Hollywood that you take what you're given, enjoy your fame and success, but don't question the specifics of how much money you're actually owed. It's existed that way for almost a century. But then cases like "Coming to America" happen, and the nasty, greedy, corrupt, asshole-infested underside of Hollywood are exposed. I'm glad Art Bushwald sued for what he was owed, as was everyone else who worked on that film. Bob Shaye wants Peter Jackson to just take the money New Line so graciously paid him and not ask questions.

But look what happens when a now-famous director actually ASKS questions and doesn't settle for the bureaucratic bullshit the studio wants him to swallow. You're the asshole here, Bob Shaye. You and your crooked, fuck-the-artist who made us money policies. I realize you have shareholders to appease, which is why you're going on the offensive, but for all the people everywhere who hate corporate suits dictating our beliefs, I hope Peter Jackson takes you down hard. To the mat, your sniveling, weaselly motherfucker.

Right on, Peter.

This is big, fat case, one that could shake the entire industry. If New Line is compelled to open its books by a court, and anomalies are found, and those anomalies amount to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, the carry-over effect in the industry would be huge. New Line doesn't want this to happen, and they're pissed Pete Jackson is persisting in his pursuit of his owed money.

You may look at "Coming to America" and "LOTR" as fundamentally different types of cases, which is fine, but in both cases, millions of cooked-book dollars were and are on the line.

I don't care how much money Peter Jackson made off "LOTR", because the studio made much, much more than he did. Jackson wants to cut through the bureaucratic bullshit and get what he's owed. Bob Shaye wants to plug the festering leak in the dam before it collapses on himself, his reputation in Hollywood, and especially New Line.

And in response to someone who said "how can you possibly sue someone and still stay friendly", this isn't the real world, it's hollyweird, and in Hollyweird litigation is a way of life. It's all about the business, legal action over monies allegedly owed or deals allegedly broken happens all the fucking time, only it's usually conducted more professionally between parties and doesn't get this ugly in the press, and in the long run usually some sort of compromise deal is made between parties. I mean Connery has rather famously sued pretty much every film studio that he has ever worked for at one time or another, and yet that didn't stop him getting work (before he apparently retired at least), and while I'm sure there was some bitterness afterwards in some cases, ultimately the business of making new films and new money still came first, and it could have been the same here if they'd kept things professional while legal did it's bit. Doesn't mean it would have, but it *could* have. Not much chance of that ever happening now, thanks to the bitter public actions and back & forth mud slinging of both sides though.

Shaye: "No problem, son. Here's ten bucks."

Phil: "I'm sorry, sir, that's twelve-fifty."

Shaye: "I just gave you ten."

Phil: "Yes, sir, but I need another two-fifty, or you'll have to return some of these items to their rightful shelves."

Shaye: "Listen, you little punk. This tinned corn and cereal don't buy itself. I come in here and justify the existence of you, the corn, the cereal and that ridiculous name badge you're wearing. Have some self-respect, son. I just handed you ten bucks. If you'd studied math instead of flunking cashier school, you'd know ten bucks is ten bucks more than zero. So take this Alexander Hamilton and go back to reading your comic book."

Phil: "I'm sorry, sir, but unless you pay for all your groceries, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Shaye: "Kid, you have no idea who you're messing with here. You'll never sell lunch in this town again."

And lo, the sun rises, and American insomniacs and workshy Europeans unite.

It's a shame the end of the result of all this will likely be a crappy Hobbit film, but I am enjoying very much these public spats between rich guy #1 and rich guy #2. Someone above made a joke about wrestling, but I think he could be on to something. A cage match, or maybe an all-hobbit lumberjack match, might be the only way to settle things here.

P.S. Good to see you, Ringwearer9. You may be onto something with that skull and crossbones line. Didn't Jackson cameo as a pirate in ROTK? Maybe he was trying to tell you something...

Thanks, Bob Shaye, you apparently greedy bastard.

Ed harris was ready to kill James Cameron in his sleep!