The heirs of late author JRR Tolkien are suing the producers of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies over what they say is exploitative merchandising.

A producer who bought the rights to the Lord of the Rings trilogy almost 30 years ago has made €137m from the franchise despite never having worked on the films, it emerged today.

The studio behind the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is being sued for $20m (€16.2m) by movie and music mogul Saul Zaentz in regard to alleged unpaid royalties.

Film star Michael Douglas has said “good genes” is one explanation for the Hollywood success of his father Kirk and himself.

The Lord Of The Rings is to be turned into the West End’s most expensive musical in a lavish multi-million pound production.