The Hobbit
But things get even better er, worse. After Peter Jackson made his announcement that he believed he is being taken by New Line and that he could not do a new project with them until the current lawsuit was resolved, New Line head Robert Shaye has now responded with a vicious promise.
New Line's Robert Shaye Response On The Hobbit
In a recent interview with SciFi.com, reposted at moviehole, Shaye kicks off by (somewhat) complimenting Jackson with, "Not that I don't think Peter is a good filmmaker and that he hasn't contributed significantly to filmography and made three very good movies. And I don't even expect him to say 'thank you' for having me make it happen and having New Line make it happen. But to think that I, as a functionary in [a] company that has been around for a long time, but is now owned by a very big conglomerate, would care one bit about trying to cheat the guy, ... he's either had very poor counsel or is completely misinformed and myopic to think that I care whether I give him [anything]."
Thank you? Now, I understand the risk that New Line took with LOTR, but wasn't it Jackson that literally saved the studio from ruin thanks to his vision? Getting nasty, let's keep moving.
Shaye then goes on to point out exactly (if you can call it that) how much Jackson got from New Line for Lord of the Rings. Nobody likes their income exposed, so Shaye figured he might as well sign the divorce papers on New Line's and Jackson's relationship as well.
"He got a quarter of a billion dollars paid to him so far, justifiably, according to contract, completely right, and this guy, who already has received a quarter of a billion dollars, turns around without wanting to have a discussion with us and sues us and refuses to discuss it unless we just give in to his plan. I don't want to work with that guy anymore. Why would I? So the answer is he will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working for the company."
So far fans have been siding with Jackson. Not that they necessarily know all the details in the lawsuit, but it is Jackson that could deliver the best Hobbit film, so there you go. New Line claims that Jackson just wants more money, but I must admit that it is curious that they are still 'hiding' numbers. Did they cheat Jackson? Probably. But then again, $250 million dollars is still a nice sum of change for three films.
All we have left now is to hope that MGM stalls the production of the film so Saul Zaentz can get the film's rights back in his hands. Once that happens, the producer claims he will pass the project on to Jackson. A vicious circle maybe, but at least it comes back around again.
Stay tuned for updates.
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