Jackson Dropped From The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, won't be tackling a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit or a second proposed Rings prequel film now that New Line has told them the studio will be seeking another director, Jackson and Walsh told fans on the OneRing.net Web site. Jackson said that New Line producer Mark Ordesky told Jackson's manager, Ken Kamins, that the studio was moving ahead with the project without Jackson and Walsh because the pair declined to agree to do The Hobbit as a condition of settling a lawsuit against New Line to recoup income from the Rings films.
"We have always said that we do not want to discuss The Hobbit with New Line until the lawsuit over New Line's accounting practices is resolved," Jackson and Walsh wrote. But Michael Lynne, co-president of New Line Cinema, insisted that Jackson and Walsh commit to the project before the studio would settle the suit. When Jackson and Walsh declined, "Mark Ordesky called Ken and told him that New Line would no longer be requiring our services on The Hobbit and the LOTR 'prequel,'" Jackson and Walsh wrote. "This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker for both projects."
Jackson and Walsh added: "Given that New Line are committed to this course of action, we felt at the very least, we owed you, the fans, a straightforward account of events as they have unfolded for us. ... This outcome is not what we anticipated or wanted, but neither do we see any positive value in bitterness and rancor. We now have no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go and move forward with other projects." Those include a film version of Alice Sebold's supernatural novel The Lovely Bones.
http://www.theonering.net/staticnews/1163993546.html

Wood Backs Jackson For Hobbit
Elijah Wood, who starred in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, told MyMovies.net that he thinks New Line Cinema would be making a mistake if it goes forward with a film adaptation of The Hobbit without Jackson. On Nov. 20, Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, told fans on the OneRing.net Web site that the studio is seeking another director for the film, as well as an additional proposed prequel to Lord of the Rings.
"If [Peter] ultimately doesn't come back because of what New Line has done, I think it would be a great tragedy," Wood told the Web site. "I think it's ultimately quite foolish for New Line to move forward assuming they can create an equally wonderful film without Peter. ... And I think that for fans that's tragic. ... For a long time, I never kind of imagined that these movies would ever be made, so if they do get made, I think they should be made by Peter."
Jackson has said that the studio's break with him is due to his ongoing lawsuit regarding its accounting practices. When Jackson refused to commit to the project before the suit was settled, New Line said it would no longer require his services as a director.
Wood said that there's still a chance Jackson may return to The Hobbit, if the rights should fall to another company. "I don't think it's ultimately over, though," he said. "I think the argument's still up in the air. There's talk that New Line will ultimately lose the rights to [The Hobbit], and that the rights will fall to the Saul Zaentz company, which is what Saul Zaentz is now saying. So, who knows? I think it remains to be seen ultimately what will happen, but it makes me nervous."
http://www.mymovies.net/news/news_listing....d=5975&sec=news

Shaye: New Line Blacklists Jackson
In the latest comment in the controversy surrounding a proposed movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, New Line head Robert Shaye told SCI FI Wire in no uncertain terms that the studio won't work with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson on that film or any other film. Ever. At least not as long as Shaye is in charge.
Shaye's comments marked the first time a New Line executive has commented publicly on the fracas since Jackson announced that he has pulled out of the project and also appears to harden New Line's position against Jackson.
"I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me," Shaye—New Line's chief executive officer—said in an interview on Jan. 5 while promoting The Last Mimzy, a New Line family fantasy that marks his first time in a director's chair since 1990's Book of Love. "It will never happen during my watch."
Jackson had told TheOneRing.net in November that he and partner Fran Walsh were bowing out after New Line, which produced the Rings films and has production rights to The Hobbit, told them the studio was moving ahead with The Hobbit without them. Jackson has said he won't discuss The Hobbit until a lawsuit against New Line over Rings accounting practices is settled.
As far as Shaye is concerned, Jackson is no longer welcome. "There's a kind of arrogance," Shaye said. "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]."
Shaye, who was also an executive producer on the Rings films, added: "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."
Shaye said that many of the Rings trilogy actors "suddenly, because, I'm guessing, of Peter's complaint," have declined to participate in celebrating New Line's 40th anniversary. "I'm incredibly offended," he said. "I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore. He wants to have another $100 million or $50 million, whatever he's suing us for. He doesn't want to sit down and talk about it. He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars. ... Cheers, Peter."
New Line's hardened position against Jackson isn't the end of the story, of course. MGM, which owns the distribution rights to The Hobbit, on Nov. 20 told Variety through a spokesman that "the matter of Peter Jackson directing the Hobbit films is far from closed."
In his own online statement, Jackson said that New Line executive Mark Ordesky, who shepherded the Rings trilogy, argued that New Line is dumping Jackson because the studio has a "limited time option" on the film rights, obtained from Saul Zaentz.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=38958

Jackson Responds To Shaye
Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson released a statement saying that he found "regrettable" comments made by New Line Cinema chief Robert Shaye to SCI FI Wire that Jackson would never work for the studio again under his watch.
In an interview, Shaye—New Line's chief executive officer—told SCI FI Wire, "I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me," referring to Jackson and his legal action concerning accounting practices for Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. "It will never happen during my watch."
Jackson's complete statement follows:
"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. 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.
"For over two years, New Line has denied us the ability to audit The Two Towers and The Return of the King, despite repeated requests. Film auditing is a common and straightforward practice within the industry, and we don't understand why New Line Cinema has taken this position.
"In light of these circumstances, I didn't think it was appropriate for me to be involved in New Line Cinema's 40th-anniversary video. I have never discussed this video with any of the cast of The Lord of the Rings. The issues that Bob Shaye has with the cast pre-date this lawsuit by many years.
"Fundamentally, our legal action is about holding New Line to its contractual obligations and promises. 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."
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=39462

Rings RPG Expands Tolkien
Jeff Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Turbine Inc., told SCI FI Wire that Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes its cues directly from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, but that also expands on them. "[We] took a lead from the master [and] focused [the game] on the first book [in the trilogy] and covered the storyline as Frodo and Sam leave the Shire and start moving towards ... Rivendell," Anderson said in an interview at the New York Comic Con over the weekend. "Post-launch we are going to tell more of the story as the fellowship leaves that area and goes forth ... all the way to Mount Doom."
The main storyline of the game covers many of the same events as the first book of Tolkien's trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, Anderson said. "Everything from Gandalf being captured ... [to] Strider meeting up with the fellowship at The Prancing Pony [to] the fight on Weathertop," he said. "We've got all those moments in the game, and we communicate that through a variety of different mechanics: through text, through voice-over, through game cinematics. Those all make sure that the player is aware of where the story is."
Instead of playing as one of the iconic characters created by Tolkien, players create their own heroes, Anderson said. "The hero comes from one of four different races: You can be an elf, dwarf, hobbit or human," he said. "You will have a chance to start your own story. You will become your own hero of Middle-earth. We posit from the beginning that you're an exceptional character. Obviously most hobbits were not running around the world, so you are an exceptional hobbit, or exceptional elf or dwarf. And ... eventually you go on, and we put you in the heart of the adventure."
Turbine wanted to let players play either good or evil, but realized that not everyone is interested in engaging in player-vs.-player battles, Anderson said. "Rather than just letting hobbits [player-kill] hobbits and elves PK dwarves, [we let] people play as orcs or wargs or spiders," he said. "The monster characters are only allowed in one particular region of the world. ... So if you walk through the Shire, you won't find yourself confronted with 50 different Uruk-hais, because it will break the fiction and isn't much fun for the hobbit."
A focus on story is critical to the next generation in MMORPGs, Anderson said. "[LOTRO] has the grind, the 50 levels, the 400 different skills for you to learn, ... the 1,500 different quests," he said. "But behind it all is a very interesting epic that really pulls you in and keeps you there." Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar is currently in beta testing and will be released to the general public April 24. To learn more about the game or apply to be a beta tester, visit the LOTRO Web site.
http://lotro.turbine.com/