Tolkien charity sues over Rings trilogy film profits

The estate of 'Lord Of The Rings' creator JRR Tolkien today sued the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films.

The writer’s estate – the British-based The Tolkien Trust – and original 'Lord Of The Rings' publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The lawsuit claims New Line was required to pay 7.5% of gross receipts from the films to Tolkien’s estate and the other plaintiffs.

The films – 2001’s The Fellowship Of The Ring, 2002’s The Two Towers, and 2003’s The Return of the King – have reaped nearly $6bn combined worldwide, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs seek more than $150m in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages and a court order giving the Tolkien estate the right to terminate any rights New Line may have to make films based on other works by the author, including 'The Hobbit'.

Such an order would scuttle plans New Line has to make a two-film prequel based on “The Hobbit.”

Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson has already been signed as executive producer on the project, which is set to begin production next year, with releases planned for 2010 and 2011.

“The Tolkien trustees do not file lawsuits lightly, and have tried unsuccessfully to resolve their claims out of court,” Steven Maier, a lawyer for the Tolkien estate based in Britain, said in a statement.

“New Line has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts despite the billions of dollars of gross revenue generated by these wildly successful motion pictures.”

Mr Maier also claimed the film studio has blocked the Tolkien estate and the other plaintiffs from auditing the receipts of the last two films.

A call to a spokesman for New Line, a unit of Time Warner, was not immediately returned.