Lord of the Rings fans, rejoice: Warner Bros. has reached a settlement with the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien over who owns the film rights to the story, and now production can start on The Hobbit, the prequel to the series that has been a massive success both as a series of books and as a series of movies.

The trouble started in February of 2008 when Tolkien's heirs sued Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema arm, accusing the company of shortchanging the estate on royalties. The suit sought in excess of $150 million and sought to rescind the studio's right to make Lord of the Rings movies. Bonnie Eskenazi, an attorney for the Tolkien estate, told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that while $150 million was the initial claim, "that demand increased after we got closer to a trial because discovery revealed additional financial impropriety."

Continue reading Settlement clears path for Hobbit movie

Settlement clears path for Hobbit movie originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

All movie studios want to find their own Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter franchise. Disney (NYSE: DIS), for example, seems to be headed on the right track with its Narnia brand. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) made a solid effort this past weekend by releasing The Spiderwick Chronicles to the mass multiplex marketplace -- unfortunately, things didn't turn out so well, at least as I'm seeing it.

According to Boxofficemojo, Spiderwick is in a battle with Disney's Step Up 2 the Streets for second place. The latter is right now estimated to have grossed $19.7 million for the three-day weekend of February 15 through February 17; the former has just over $19 million to its credit. So, Spiderwick could exit its current third-place showing and move up in the rankings, but it won't catch up to the big winner, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Jumper. I'll tell you, I had no idea this one was going to "jump" -- what a horrible, horrible pun, huh? -- to the top of the box office charts this weekend with a $27 million take.

Final numbers will be coming later today, and we'll get a better indication of how all the movies did once Monday's holiday figures are added; also, the second weekend is always the ultimate tell. But, as of now, I don't think Viacom's Spiderwick fantasy -- which is distributed by Paramount and is co-branded with Nickelodeon Movies -- will approach the economic prestige of Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Potter property. Better luck next time.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney.

'Spiderwick Chronicles' not such a great fantasy for Viacom originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After years of squabbling between the creators of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and New Line Cinema (Time Warner, NYSE: TWX), today comes wonderful news that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have agreed to create not one, but TWO new hobbit movies! The prequels will be produced and distributed by New Line Cinema and MGM, and are slated for release in 2010 and 2011.

The first will be based on J.R.R. Tolkien's earlier work, The Hobbit, which follows Bilbo Baggins as he discovers the ring that becomes the macguffin of the record-breaking trilogy. Along the way, we will again encounter Gandalf, as well as a dozen dwarves, two trolls and one very angry dragon.

The plot of the second film, meant to bridge the narrative gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, will be stitched together from the volumunous notes Tolkien made for his history of Middle Earth. I'm pleased that Jackson and Walsh are heading this effort, since they have shown that they respect Tolkien's vision.

I can't wait to follow them there and back again, again.

Thanks to Matt Betts for the tip.

New Line Cinema/MGM to make two new J.R.R. Tolkien films originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
-- Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring

"There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it."
-- Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

In the late 1920s, J.R.R. Tolkien started writing a fantastical story about magical creatures known as hobbits, elves, and dwarves, in a made up world he called Middle Earth, for the benefit of his children. The work he completed, The Hobbit, became the prelude to one of the great literary masterpieces of all time -- The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Some 70 years later, J.K. Rowling started writing a fantastical story about a different set of magical creatures known as witches and wizards, in a not so made up world called England, for the benefit of her daughter. That book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone here in the States), and the six books that followed in the series, have made Rowling the wealthiest woman in the world.

The authors share many similarities. Both are British, use initials in place of their first names, are famous for one major literary contribution (although Rowling, having the benefit of still being alive, will have many years to change that), and have had cinematic empires based on their works.

Continue reading Money Face-Off: JRR Tolkien vs. JK Rowling

Money Face-Off: JRR Tolkien vs. JK Rowling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX ) has been selected as the "undervalued stock of the month" by Paul Tracy, in his StreetAuthority Market Advisor.

The advisor explains, "We think the company's days as an industry laggard are over and we think the company is well-positioned to leverage its valuable assets and unlock shareholder value in the years ahead."

For those unfamiliar with the company's operations, he explains that Time Warner is the largest media conglomerate on the planet. First, he notes, there is AOL, which has built a powerful network of highly-trafficked web sites. He explains, "Its ubiquitous instant messenger service is used to send 1.8 billion messages every day."

Then, he adds, there is Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), which has grown to become the nation's number two cable provider with a massive base of 15 million customers -- roughly half of whom have signed up for premium services such as digital video or high-speed internet.

The film business, he points out, includes Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema, and has "raked in billions" in global box office revenues from blockbuster hits like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

In fact, he says, Warner Brothers is planning to bring the Harry Potter world to life, unveiling plans to collaborate on a new theme park based on the "wildly popular" series.

Continue reading It's time for Time

It's time for Time originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Warner Bros. to make 'Shannara' fantasy books into movies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft and Peter Jackson join for Xbox content originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.