Tolkien's children fight for 'Lord of the Rings' gold
Found on LA Times on Thursday, 03 July 2008
The film trilogy, which grossed $2.96 billion worldwide at the box office and $3 billion or so more in DVD and ancillary markets, has not made any money for the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the famous books.
According to the Tolkien lawsuit, part of the reason the Tolkien family has received no kwan from the films is that New Line has had to shell out so much money to previous rights holders Zaentz and Miramax (who both had 5% of the gross).
I'm really not a fan of the entertainment industry, but this time I do wonder why Tolkien's kids should get any money. Lord of the Rings was written by their father, and he made the contract with the studios.