Peter Jackson sues Warner over 'LOTR' revenues

Peter Jackson sues Warner over 'LOTR' revenues

MUMBAI: The wizard behind The Lord of The Rings Oscar winning director Peter Jackson is suing Time Warner.

His claim is that the media conglomerate did not give him his dues as far as revenues were concerned which run into tens of millions of dollars.

Media reports state that Jackson's lawyers estimate that the director may have been underpaid by as much as $100 million.

In his lawsuit, Jackson has accused New Line of granting the licensing rights to Lord of the Rings books, DVDs, and merchandise to other Time Warner companies without allowing bids from other entertainment companies. As a result, the total revenues related to the film were lower than they would have been had there been open bidding for these ancillary rights, Jackson claims.

Jackson who directed, co-produced and co-wrote the blockbuster trilogy, has become richer by the franchise to the tune of around $200 million.

New Line intends to fight the case aggressively. The question now is will this have any affect on The Hobbit? Jackson is said to have plans to make this prequel to LOTR. One could argue that Jackson is being a touch ungrateful considering that New Line gave him the money on what was at that point considered a huge risk when Miramax backed out.