Movies News
New Line banishes Peter Jackson (updated)
By Scott Rosenberg Jan 11, 2007, 12:32 GMT
Robert Shaye, co-chairman of New Line
Oh boy!
And we thought things were nasty last year when in August, Sumner Redstone topper of Viacom International parent of Paramount fired Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner.
Not to worry, the star who generated over $8.5 billion for Paramount from such pictures as the Mission: Impossible franchise and War of the Worlds went over to MGM to top United Artists.
Now it is New Line Cinema versus ‘Lord of the Rings’ master Peter Jackson.
Story goes like this:
Jackson is not pleased with New Line producers of his "Rings" trilogy because of “improper accounting practices” of “Ring” profits and has taken legal action.
New Line owns rights to ‘The Hobbit,’ the prequel story to ‘Lord of the Rings,’ while MGM has distribution rights for the pic.
While Jackson and producing partner Fran Walsh have announced they will not discuss making the prequel until legal matters with New Line are settled New Line has announced it will proceed into Hobbitland without Jackson at the helm.
New Line exec’s Mark Ordesky, who moved the Rings trilogy through the mini-major, claims they have a limited time option on the film’s rights obtained from Saul Zaentz. And since the legal dispute with Jackson is not making any headway, the studio needs to move ahead with the project, sans the director.
MGM meanwhile issued a statement from a spokesperson which said “The matter of Peter Jackson directing ‘The Hobbit’ is far from closed.”
Now in an interview with the Sci-Fi Channel Robert Shaye, co-chairman of New Line, announced that Jackson would never make another movie for New Line.
"I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me," Shaye said. "So the answer is that he will never make any movies with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working for the company."
"I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore," Shaye added. "He wants to have another $100m or $50m or whatever he's suing us for. He doesn't want to sit down and talk about it. He thinks we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars ... Cheers, Peter."
IGN Movies, quotes Shaye as saying,” 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."
Jackson has now issued a statement via his Wingnut Films shingle on Ain't It Cool News, where he set forth his position on the battle with New Line.
"Our issue with New Line Cinema has only ever been about their refusal to account for financial anomalies that surfaced from a partial audit of The Fellowship of the Ring," wrote Jackson. "Contrary to recent comments made by Bob Shaye, we attempted to discuss the issues raised by the Fellowship audit with New Line for over a year but the studio was and continues to be completely uncooperative. This has compelled us to file a lawsuit to pursue our contractual rights under the law. Nobody likes taking legal action, but the studio left us with no alternative."
Jacson concludes by saying, "It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make it personal. I have always had the highest respect and affection for Bob and other senior management at New Line and continue to do so."
Ouch! Doesn’t look like Jackson is going to go near The Hobbit little people for a while
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Older Talkback
page: 1
If Mr. Shaye declares that Peter Jackson will never make another film while he still works for the company, then maybe it's time for New Line to get rid of Mr. Shaye. I don't know any of the particulars from the legal action, but from what I understand of it (and I could be wrong), Mr. Jackson feels he has reason to suspect that an error in the accounting practices of New Line may have caused him to be underpaid. The amount he has been paid (whether 250M or more or less) is really irrevelant, since Mr. Jackson should be entitled to be paid what they legally agreed. If it turns out after an audit that he is owed more than he was paid, then New Line should pay it. Mr. Shaye mentioned more than once the sum they paid PJ. Is it a lot of money? Yes, sounds like it to me, but I understand that the trilogy had a gross of over 1B US$. So New Line made just as much money, I'm sure. If New Line is in the right, why won't they agree to an independent audit? If NL is correct, then it would turn out they would not have to pay PJ any more money and the suit would be settled. In my opinion, agreeing to an audit would give NL their integrity back.
It seems to me that Bob Shaye is 'cutting off his nose to spite his face'. It is clear that PJ has the potential to make these next two Tokkien movies the right way, like he did the others. You must recall, not only did PJ direct those three movies but he adapted the book into the scripts he used, which if you ask me was a miracle from books as long as LOTR were. It is also apparent that when movies are not made by a director who knows the material and has the proper commitment to it (look at Eragon, as an example) then an inferier product results and the movie grosses reflect this. Why on Earth would NL turn away from PJ and take the chance of losing all that potential money? That's why they ultimately make films, to make money off them.
I hope NL and MGM come to their senses before it's too late.
It is interesting to witness how short-sighted New Line is behaving with regards to Peter Jackson. It is this reader's opinion (among legions of other die-hard fans) that Mr. Jackson is the *only* director capable of credibly nailing 'The Hobbit' with the same brilliance as the 'Rings' trilogy. I am reminded with sad amusement of how the fictitious character and big-wig Hollywood Producer 'Jack Woltz' from 'The Godfather (Part One)' behaved by petulantly refusing to give a prime role to the 'Johnny Fontane' character--who also happened to be the beloved Godson of 'Vito Corleone.' I don't believe any horse's heads will crop-up in Robert Shaye's bed any time soon, but he is certainly coming across as a horse's @ss. 'The Hobbit' film will utterly flop without Jackson at the helm and that is a tragic shame.
Studios are notorious for behaving like car salespeople. Untrustworhty, shifty..ECT.
But PJ isn't behaving very good either. Why would he even expect to direct for someone he is suing? And why would he want to direct if those same people supposedly screwed him over once already???
Lastly, Jackson is not quite the commodity he was prior to King Kong. And there are plenty of directors who would do just fine directing The Hobbit.
If New Line goes ahead with the Hobbit without Peter Jackson, I'm not going to waste my money on it. I saw all three of the LOTR movies on their opening days and am a die-hard Tolkien fan, but without P.J. this movie will be utter trash. New Line is biting the hand that feeds it.
Hey, The Hobbit and The Lords of the Rings, It was all Peters Choice, If it wasnt for Peter then New line wouldnt have made all the money in the first place. He did all the work, just so the company can just smooch off of him. Peter made this thing and its his right to make the HOBBIT. Peter if I were you, I would get with another company and make the HOBBIT and make it better than anything else. Just to shut up New Line.
....er, maybe you missed the part in the article where it says New Line currently has the rights to The Hobbit? See, Jackson CAN'T go somewhere else and make the movie. That's one of the biggest points of the whole st....oh nevermind.
You are all nerds, Peter Jackson is a greedy little hack! Look at him suing the company that made it possible for a guy that directed bad splatter movies to win an Oscar. He has no appreciation for New Line or the business, he is all about his precious money. Peter Jackson disgusts me.
After all the work that's been done on the look and feel of the Tolkein universe, all the props made, and all the available WORKERS who know their jobs, most any good director could make the Hobbit. A massive production like that emphasizes the managerial aspect of Directing. At this point, any good manager could probably oversee a very solid version of The Hobbit.
Besides, I hated Jackson's decision to have the Wizards fight mainly with hand-to-hand weapons instead of casting spells. Hopefully the new director will let magic-users have a more visual impact.
After all the work that's been done on the look and feel of the Tolkein universe, all the props made, and all the available WORKERS who know their jobs, most any good director could make the Hobbit. A massive production like that emphasizes the managerial aspect of Directing. At this point, any good manager could probably oversee a very solid version of The Hobbit.
Besides, I hated Jackson's decision to have the Wizards fight mainly with hand-to-hand weapons instead of casting spells. Hopefully the new director will let magic-users have a more visual impact.
Perhaps MGM will talk some sense into NL. Afterall, MGM stands to loose a ton of revenue as well if the movie is a flop. MGM holds distribution rights, if the movie doesn't sell they can't move it, thus not collecting their share. Law suites are common between business partners and are usually treated as 'just business'. This Shaye character seems to be taking it personally which would lead me to look into his personal accounting practices, maybe he stands to loose what he's skimming?
Thats what he gets for being greedy. He made 200 million and that still wasnt enough. I think he deserves what he got. If he's not satisfied with the 200 million, he needs to be dropped. My conclusion, he;s a greddy bastard and got what he desreved. He should have taken the 200 million been happy and stfu.
If New Line decides to direct The Hobbit without Peter Jackson, I will boycott New Line for good. Any contract worth the paper it's written on will clearly state whether or not Peter Jackson is due any royalties from the merchandising of the movie. If New Line has shorted him his due, regardless of how much he has already been paid, Peter Jackson should be compensated. What New Line refuses to understand is PJ's commitment to Tolkein's work. They believe that they will simply find someone else, who will do just as good of a job. I disagree. The $1 billion + that the movie has earned has come directly from true die-hard Tolkein fans and word of mouth. Anyone remember how much advertising was done for these movies? Very little. Didn't need it with everyone telling everyone else to go see it. It should all basically boil down to cold, hard CASH. New Line should suck it up, and say, 'Hey, I hate this guy, but he's gonna make me a couple billion $$, so what the heck...', and just pay the guy. If New Line makes the movie without him, and it bombs, the loss should be made up from Robert Shaye's hide.
This is why even as a corporate programmer I despise the corporate environment. I have had many clients who made a butt load of money off my work and then stiffed me.
If I am due 40k for a project and I only get 30k I am still 10k short. Sure the 30k is also good money, but it is this kind of corporate backstabbing over a relatively small amount of money that makes me hate the system and it's masters.
Pay the man his money. LOTR would not have made the money it did without Jackson at the helm.
Tim: your conclusion that Jackson is 'greedy' is plainly ridiculous. If you work for someone, making several million while they make several millions MORE, if it turned out that they had cheated you out of money in order to line their own pockets further would you not be angry at this?
It's not about needing more money than he got paid, it's about being paid what was agreed to in the first place.
Respectfully, you are 100% wrong. And possibly an idiot.
NL should agree to the investigation if only to clear themselves. Only people who have something to hide refuse to let other people see their books.
Having said that, PJ is NOT the only talented geeky director out there who understands Tolkien. He just happened to be the one who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right charisma to get a chance. with the right people. There is so much untapped talent in this industry...it would be great if someone else got a shot at The Hobbit. PJ already did his thing. Give someone else a chance to make millions. =)
Well, I would sue the pants off there company too. Mr Shay may be talking threw his teeth at the moment, but without P.J at head, the movie is bound to fail. P.J has a way of making a movie greater than it could've been, lets just see what happens there. Mr. Shay, you are a loser and hope you fail, you are a piece of trash and I hope you get canned, that would be bitter sweet.
He's just a director. I could name 20 or 30 off the top of my head that could do it as well or better.
New Line will make their movie.
Then the rights will return to the Tolkien estate.
Royd Tolkien has indicated he would hire Jackson.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30937
Just like there have been multiple versions Thunderball (James Bond).
You will see a Peter Jackson remake of the Hobbit as soon as the Tolkiens can legally fire another one up.
If NewLine believed PJ didn't have a good reason to sue them, then they would have released a statement saying so rather than throwing up this latest smoke screen about the quarter of a billion he's already earn't.
It's a shameful and low-handed attempt to divert people's (shareholders) attention away from an accounting deception - one which has been constructed to deny Mr Jackson additional earnings which is he legally entitled.
Now, these are Mr Jackson's 'earnings' were talking about - and irrespective of how much or little Mr Jackson has so far been remunerated, it's an amount they had all originally agreed on and the basis which Mr Jackson took the decision to work with them in the first place.
Remove all the fancy names, big numbers and titles - and we are left with a classic case of an employer ripping-off an employee, do the right thing and pay the man his dues - he certainly did a great job for you and now you slander and stab him in the back? is that what you people over there at NL call doing business ? shame !
Peter and Fran spent 9 years working on the LOTR script, I think that qualifies them for pension and medical as well!
John Ryan, Wellington, New Zealand
Egos and the all mighty dollar hard at work again. I was very much looking forward to a Hobbit movie directed by Jackson...
I could not care less if Jackson directed or not. I think he did a fairly good job on the 3 LOTR movie but nothing outstanding. The story itself was outstanding imho.
A man who gets far to carried away with heavy handed special effects and pointless additions/changes. Also the screenwriting was terrible, best dialogue was the stuff untouched from the book.
For The Hobbit I would like to see a fresh face at the helm, also it is not clear to me how well The Hobbit will translate to the big screen, tricky one for studio with no leading 'man' or woman...or hardly any women in fact.
Be interesting to see if they go down kids route or more creepy fairytale.
But this is all about money, New Line's deal with Tolk Ent runs out very soon so they need to start production pronto. MGM can wait as I understand so they are not in such a rush.
Get ready for your Mirkwood underwear and Laketown lunchboxes.
Am i the only one who's reading this as financial blackmail.
New Line are saying 'don't mess with us, or else' (quite a warning going out to all future Directors, Producers, etc, down the line) because at the same time, by turning this into a personal attack, they are now painting Peter as a man who is hard to work with or deal with. One starts to wonder if this possibly had anything to do with Universal and Fox pulling the Halo3 plug so abruptly.
Thankfully the author of this article does make this connection between big Studios ditching their prized horses. It'll be interesting to see if the backlash of the public masses does eventuate at the boxoffice. Or if Peter joins the United Artists camp.
I really enjoyed the LOTR trilogy. However, I hated King Kong. If you look at the Harry Potter franchise, where they have used different producers, it has actually benefitted the development of the story and characters. It may be good to have a different perspective on Bilbo Baggins.
joshua2257: Total rubbish! We are talking Directors here, not Producers. Huge difference in roles. And as long as movie marketing (i.e. profit money--owed or hidden) is on the table, I think you totally underestimate the fan brand-loyalty. 'The Hobbit' created as an NL/MGM film may fly a tad without Peter Jackson in the Director's chair, but those of us who really care about JRR Tolkien will happily wait for Jackson's undeniably and highly inevitable version. Best 'o luck to New Line, silly rabbits -- Heh!
I couldn't read most of it because of the stupid animated ad that sat in the middle of it and overwrote most of the text. New web designers, anyone?
I find the comments about any director being able to do the job on the Hobbit amusing. Would just any director really have the respect of and feel for the source material that Jackson displayed? I doubt it.
As far as those who label Jackson as being greedy what does it say about the studio who made even more money than he did that they felt they had to cheat Jackson out of his due? Of course, it does seem to be the SOP for movie studios and music labels, doesn't it?
Jackson did a great job on Fellowship-of-the_Ring and The-Two-Towers. He didn't impress me with Return of the King - his shacky-blurring action shots become a distraction and took away from what could be been some great and dramatic scenes.
Personally, I'm glad that some new blood can take a shot at Hobbit, - it will be very ineresting to see a differnt view on large battle-scenes - which Jackson ruined in ROTK.
Personally, I'd like to see Sam Raimi take a shot at it - lets be honest- Jackson stole a good deal of method from 'Army of Darkness'.
for PJ: what is it about?
art or $?
if you love what you are doing
Did any of you actually READ Tolkien? Fran's script was crap. The changes they made truly changed major aspects of the story in both the second and third movies. If 'PJ' were to do this, you can bet your bottom dollar there would be a stupid love story super-imposed over the script and two gay dwarves.
Thank goodness for greed. There is hope that we may actually see the Hobbit as written (in the book).
BTW: Tolkien's estate will only make another Hobbit if the MGM/New Line one is a flop - yeah right. All you folks are going to flock to the theater, if for no other reason than to complain about how 'PJ' would have done it better.
One man seems right until another man steps forward and presents his case. We need to hear from JP.
When the rumors of a split between New Line and Jackson first surfaced, the cynic in me wondered if the fame hadn't gone to Jackson's head and if he might not be trying to throw his weight around. Reading the latest flurry of pieces, though, it's beginning to sound as though New Line, and, more specifically, Bob Shaye, might have something to hide.
No matter who ends up directing the disputed movie, people will go to see it. As other posters mentioned, even if PJ does not direct the movie there will be a large number of loyal PJ fans who will see it. The LOTR brand, such as it is, has already been established, so no matter how badly another director might (and likely will) mess up The Hobbit the studios will probably be insulated from a complete tanking.
Where I see New Line and MGM being significantly hurt will be in the cross-merchandising. Fans are going to make their voice heard and, though they might watch the film, it seems a long (not to mention arrogant) bet to assume that they're going to blow mega $$$'s on merchandise for a movie that fell short of their expectations.
Other directors can take over the project. Other directors might follow the books more closely than even PJ. But I can guarantee you that none of them will share his vision for the books. New Line and MGM would do well to remember that it was that vision that captivated the hearts and imaginations of millions of people around the world...not all of their marketing machinations.
Greed, Greed, Greed!
Hollywood is so out of touch with reality. Most Americans would be happy with a quarter Billion Dollars, or even 1% of it, But for these guys enough is never enough. WHen we are working on getting the minimum wage changed and kids work in theaters for $5.00 an hour here in Colorado, these greedy cretins think the world revolves around them. Yeah they are talented, but someone needs to send them a message. No one is worth that kind of money, not even the ceo of home depot.
PJ is suing for what he claims is his by contract, no more no less. It doesn't matter if he got 1 dollar, a quarter billion or a 100 billion if an audit finds it is in the contract and backed up by the books at NL he should get it, if not he should not get it.
If NL is in the right they have nothing to fear from an audit and can show it to the world.
One of the most important things for me as a fan would be Ian Holme and Ian Mckellen in the roles of Bilbo and Gandalf respectively. From the hours of documentary material for LOTR, it would seem that both actors (if not everyone involved) have an extremely high level of respect for Peter Jackson, and I have a suspect they might refuse to do the hobbit without him. As for the people who say PJ is greedy -- listen, if someone owes you money, it shouldn't matter how much you've already made.... especially when it's a giant company like New Line that, let's be honest, has made plenty themselves. Add to all of this that they were probably a struggle to work with financial all along while creating the movie, and it's largely due to Peter Jacksons Balls that the thing got made at all.
Stole his directing style from Army of Darkness? Go snort another white line fool.
Yes, if PJ didn't direct Hobbit, PJ loyalists would still see it. BUT they will lose a boatload of money on merchandising and DVD sales. Most people will also pirate the movie to save the money.
I think that New Line Cinema is being really stupid about this whole thing. I am a fan of the movies and a bigger fan of the books and I'm not sure that I would even want to go see the movies if they had a different director.
I think that Peter Jackson has the best vision, the best incompasing view of the books, he also has a certain style that others no matter how hard they try cannot copy. I think that it will be harder to make this movie flow with the rest of the series if they don't have the same director.
I hope that New Line seriously reconsiders their decision. Otherwise they might lose a ton of money.
Nobody who is honest is afraid of an audit, for one reason: it could be that Peter owes them money! Who knows! There is no way to know until a full, and certified audit is done. Bottom line: the numbers stand on their own. Being a Hollywood native myself, I can tell you many stories told to me about people who were writers who got paid on 'Net', and never made a dollar. The studios are masters of magic mathematics, not that I'm making allegations.
Furthermore, from a corporate standpoint, no officer, director, or employee should be making proud and arrogant statements...they should always do whatever it is that brings the most value to the shareholders, no their private vendettas.
Jackson will prevail, both in court, and in the court of public opinion.
How is it that everyone insists on proclaiming Jackson a genius? I would take Willow (1988) over the lord of the rings trilogy any day of the week. That's a movie with character. You can't fail with Ron Howard behind the camera and George Lucas on the story. I'm pretty excited he won't get to direct the hobbit. That's one less classic Jackson won't be able to taint.
PJMarine - you have no reason insult me for my opinion - differences don't mean you have to attack people, also - you attack has no meaning - I don't 'snort' anything at all.
Yes, Having watched both films, there's no doubt that many elements in
the battle-scene styles of Army of Darkness and LOTR _ ROTK are very similar. It's interesting to note that Jackson, like Raimi, made his bones in horror, althouth Raimi's horror films are well recognized as being of a much higher caliber.
I'm 100% sure that if Raimi accepts the job (and I think/hope he will) - he will do a much better job than Jackson could have.
I suggest you watch 'Army of Darkness' and see for yourself. Remember -that it was filmed on a low fraction of the budget or LOTR, a full 10 years earlier, and without any of the heavy computerized special effects.
I previously posted under the name darky91. I am sorry for putting that name. I did not realise that it could be taken offensivly, it was bad taste not to think it through before I used it but I did not know that it had a bad meaning to some people. It popped into my head and I had no bad intentions behind it. I am sorry for that name! If any offense was taken please let me ask for your forgiveness.
What I said about New Line Cinema still stands.
I think the fact that New Line, especially Bob Shay, was so quick to dump Peter Jackson as director of 'The Hobbit' shows that they weren't really concerned with resolving the monetary issue honorably. I saw all three of the LOTR movies and own DVDs of each. I really value them, because PJ showed a unique vision of Tolkien, his work, and the possibilities in translating them to film. I don't think it is possible to duplicate that vision and respect with another director. The LOTR books/movies resonate because there is a conflict between right and wrong, good and evil, etc. Without it, the books are meaningless; the conflict is what makes the characters and story meaningful. This mirrors what we see every day in our own lives. Do we, as people who respect what Tolkien was saying, really want 'The Hobbit' to go the way of so many Hollywood 'feel-good' pieces that have no true value to them? I, for my part, hope that that doesn't happen.
What a story about some very greedy people. What about the actors that made the film. They got more or less peanuts. If you look at the statistics,one newcomer - Orlando Bloom - attracted everyone to Lord of the Rings and purportedly got a basic £50.000 for his role in the three films! How out of portion can you get! It is very sad that both New Line and Peter Jackson have to quarrel about a few more billions of $'s, when the people who gave them all that money went because of a young boy who got peanuts. Has anyone got a comment on that? So sad!
with all the talk regarding the hobbit movie and more so the talk of Peter Jackson being involved i would like to ask whether or not you have signed the on-line petition as to mr jacksons involvement it the movie.
i for one think that the actors and actresses of the lotr trilogy (of which it is interesting as to how many have signed if any)should grant mr jackson and the fans of the lotr trilogy and tolkien the honour of allowing him to bring the hobbit to the big screen and not allow new line cinema to draught in a new director as i for one will not view the movie if PJ is not involved.
as someone stated earlier if robert shaye will not allow PJ to make the hobbit movie he will be making a very big mistake.
please sign the petition!
many thanks
a loyal lotr and hobbit fan.
ps. the precious will be ours..boycott all new line future releases!!
pay PJ what you owe and let him and weta make the hobbit which will make you $$$$$...
uk LOTR & PJ fan.
page: 1
JadeJan 11th, 2007 - 13:29:38
New Line Cinema is making a catastrophic mistake. But let them live and learn and regret when it's too late.
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