Official The Hobbit thread

[Advanced Dark]

http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070110_peter_jackson_banned_from_new.html

 

[Advanced Dark]

Shaye is being the ass. It doesn't matter if Jackson made 250 million or a billion. Jackson is entitled to whatever his contract states. If he made 250 million and is owed 260 million it's not fair for Shaye to call Jackson greedy and it's an insult to do so. He's trying to make Jackson look like the bad guy...I don't think so. Let Jackson look at the books. Something is wrong and why should he lose a single dime that he's owed by a legally binding contract.

 

[The_Raven]

He's trying to make Jackson look like the bad guy...I don't think so.

Let him try. He'll only bury himself.

I bet this whole situation ends with Shaye getting fired/replaced. I'm calling it now.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

i think new line is doing some shady business. they probably did screw him over and are trying to hide it by not providng an audit.

 

[bluejake01]

Typically you can sit back and let the two sides demonstrate for you who is in the right and who is in the wrong in these type of disagreements. Peter Jackson has remained professional and courteous throughout this whole mess. New Line, Robert Shaye in particular, have made personal attacks and given no good reason why they will not open their books. If they have nothing to hide, why hide?

 

[Advanced Dark]

From what it sounds like it's not typical to hide the books.

 

[Advanced Dark]

Let him try. He'll only bury himself.

I bet this whole situation ends with Shaye getting fired/replaced. I'm calling it now.

Yeah. This is the same New Line that after the awesome Blade 1 & 2...allowed Goyer to direct Blade Trinity and make Blade a secondary character to the Scooby Gang, and then cast Stick Fingaz in a TV series that made the franchise look even worse. All because of a feud with Snipes and Snipes at the time was claiming he wasn't paid his due. New line is gonna be screwed.

 

[Speedball]

article from SciFi.com

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.

And...Here's Jackson's response.

Jackson Responds To Shaye

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson told Variety 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 a statement to the trade paper, Jackson said: "It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make [the argument] personal. I have always had the highest respect and affection for Bob and other senior management at New Line and continue to do so."

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 addressed the suit by saying: "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 legal action, but the studio left us with no alternative."

Jackson also disputed suggestions by Shaye that Rings cast members had declined to take part in New Line's 40th anniversary. "In light of these circumstances, I didn't think it was appropriate for me to be involved in [an anniversary video]," Jackson said. "I have never discussed this video with any of the cast of the LOTR. The issues that Bob Shaye has with the cast pre-date this lawsuit by many years."

WTF?
Is Shaye a f***tard or what?

 

[DorkyFresh]

in a word...


...very.

 

[Sam Fisher]

WTF?
Is Shaye a f***tard or what?

Couldn't say it better myself. God........

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

Robert Shaye and Tom Rothman should get together.

Even though I think both LOTR and Jackson are severly overrated, and that many directors could do the Hobbit just as good as Jackson, Shaye is making a boneheaded decision that is denying his company lots of money.

 

[Speedball]

Robert Shaye and Tom Rothman should get together.

Even though I think both LOTR and Jackson are severly overrated, and that many directors could do the Hobbit just as good as Jackson, Shaye is making a boneheaded decision that is denying his company lots of money.

...I think LOTR and Jackson are overrated as well...
But I still think of him as a great director, with a lot of vision and a great understanding of his source material.
I think Shaye should be ousted by his collegues at New Line now. This is going to be a HUGE mistake.
Hell...Now Jackson can make the Hobbit for MGM.

 

[KenK]

What's with all these movie executives rejected filmmakers that make them bushels of cash?!? Is it really that hard to put their egos aside?

 

[The_Raven]

I knew Wes was unhappy about Goyer and Trinity, but I didn't know he claimed to have been shortchanged as well.

Looks like this isn't the first time it's happened.

Word has a way of getting around. If I'd made a movie with New Line, I guess I'd be considering my own audit about now.

 

[Speedball]

There's already a thread for this...

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Well, a quarter billion dollars is a very large amount of money, but considering how many billions Jackson has made for New Line, he should get whatever he wants. The first film of the trilogy made all the three films budget back and that's just the U.S. domestic box office. The Hobbit could probably net them another billion worldwide with Jackson at the helm.

 

[Warhammer]

My thing is that I want Jackson to do The Hobbit, for the sole purpose of feel/atmosphere. A different director may feel different and flow as well with the LOTR trilogy. He did a damn good job at the LOTR trilogy, so in other words...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Warhammer]

...I think LOTR and Jackson are overrated as well...
But I still think of him as a great director, with a lot of vision and a great understanding of his source material.
I think Shaye should be ousted by his collegues at New Line now. This is going to be a HUGE mistake.
Hell...Now Jackson can make the Hobbit for MGM.

Sony Pictures, ftw!

 

[matrix_ghost]

Wow , mentioning Tom Rothman and Bob Shaye in the same sentence.



Can i ask just why everybody is immeditly believing that Bob Shaye is an idiot ?
Seriously there are always two sides to an argument and it's only now that we hear the other side . Until now we only heard the stuff the PJ was talking about.
And no one , not even Hype members no exactly who is right and who is wrong therefore i don't think any of us can say that Bob Shaye is an idiot.

Who know maybe PJ is misinformend and/or is really wanting a bigger cut of the $$$. With the success going to his head it could very well be that he wants more money. Alot of other filmmakers have done this too. Look at Tobey Maguire. After the enormous success of Spiderman his agent asked for 20 million or 10% of the gross. He still got a substantial raise ( from 4 to 17 million ) for the second movie.
Or not and he simply does feel cheated .

Then again Shaye could also be lying and could've possibly not given PJ his share of the money.
Bottom line is that we don't know so there is really no need to take sides in something where we don't have the whole picture.
At this point , the whole thing has turned into a "it's you're fault . no it's you're fault , no it's YOU'RE FAULT ! " type of fighting.

Shaye isn't a dumb person. Any WISE person would know that it's idiotic to make a movie with someone who is suing you.
While it would be a shame if Pete didn't do the hobbit , i could see other directors taking a shot at it.
As long as you have the actors ( which might be a problem since they would probably stay with PJ out of loyalty ) you can make a fine hobbit movie.
I'm sure there are alot of other directors out there who have long wanted to make a hobbit movie. And a good hobbit movie too.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Who know maybe PJ is misinformend and/or is really wanting a bigger cut of the $$$

"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."

how can PJ and co. know how much they are entitled to if New Line won't even let them audit? they're not asking for more money than they're entitled to...they're asking for the chance to fully audit the movies.

 

[Backdrifter]

Shaye gracefully side steps why Jackson is suing him, instead saying that PJ already has half a billion, and he doesn't need anymore money...effectively admitting that some crooked book keeping has taken place. You've gotta love the corporate rhetoric. Oh, and you've got to love the irony in his "ego" statement.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

So do you.

this guy...

 

[Road Warrior]

Wow , mentioning Tom Rothman and Bob Shaye in the same sentence.



Can i ask just why everybody is immeditly believing that Bob Shaye is an idiot ?
Seriously there are always two sides to an argument and it's only now that we hear the other side . Until now we only heard the stuff the PJ was talking about.
And no one , not even Hype members no exactly who is right and who is wrong therefore i don't think any of us can say that Bob Shaye is an idiot.

Who know maybe PJ is misinformend and/or is really wanting a bigger cut of the $$$. With the success going to his head it could very well be that he wants more money. Alot of other filmmakers have done this too. Look at Tobey Maguire. After the enormous success of Spiderman his agent asked for 20 million or 10% of the gross. He still got a substantial raise ( from 4 to 17 million ) for the second movie.
Or not and he simply does feel cheated .

Then again Shaye could also be lying and could've possibly not given PJ his share of the money.
Bottom line is that we don't know so there is really no need to take sides in something where we don't have the whole picture.
At this point , the whole thing has turned into a "it's you're fault . no it's you're fault , no it's YOU'RE FAULT ! " type of fighting.

Shaye isn't a dumb person. Any WISE person would know that it's idiotic to make a movie with someone who is suing you.
While it would be a shame if Pete didn't do the hobbit , i could see other directors taking a shot at it.
As long as you have the actors ( which might be a problem since they would probably stay with PJ out of loyalty ) you can make a fine hobbit movie.
I'm sure there are alot of other directors out there who have long wanted to make a hobbit movie. And a good hobbit movie too.

That's how I feel.

 

[matrix_ghost]

"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."

how can PJ and co. know how much they are entitled to if New Line won't even let them audit? they're not asking for more money than they're entitled to...they're asking for the chance to fully audit the movies.

And again , i say that no one here knows who is telling the truth.
PJ could be telling the truth saying that he simply wants his share and feels cheated.
Shaye could be telling the truth saying that PJ already got his share and wants more.

I doubt PJ actually has shown the court papers and evidence on sites like TheOneRing.net and AICN clearly showing that New Line ripped them off ?


Like i said , the whole thing now has turned into name-calling and saying the the other party is lying.
We don't know the truth therefore i can't take this quote of of PJ , "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." , as something that represents the truth unless it's backed up .

 

[matrix_ghost]

Shaye gracefully side steps why Jackson is suing him, instead saying that PJ already has half a billion, and he doesn't need anymore money...effectively admitting that some crooked book keeping has taken place. You've gotta love the corporate rhetoric. Oh, and you've got to love the irony in his "ego" statement.

And what if Jackson really has gotten his share of the money ?
I don't want to come off as a Shaye supporter here with my posts , but i do feel that we all should be on neutral grounds on this topic.

Shaye has a point in saying just how much PJ has gotten out of the LOTR movies. Like i said with the Tobey argument. If money has been made by a movie , many people do want a bigger share. If PJ was to be paid something like 10 million for all three movies , i'd actually support him if he was asking for more money. However 250 million isn't 10 million. It's ALOT of money. And it shows ( at least to me) that any person would want more money if he/she sees a movie is a massive success.