The dispute between Bob and Harvey Weinstein and Warner Bros. over the disposition of profits from Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies (see "$75 Million 'Hobbit' Suit") is apparently over with an arbitrator’s ruling in favor of Warner Bros. The Weinsteins, who sold the movie rights to The Hobbit to Warner Bros. some 15 years ago, argued that they should receive a percentage of the profits from all three of Jackson’s Hobbit films, while Warner Bros. argued that the sale, which the studio uncharitably referred to as "one of the great blunders in movie history," provided the Weinsteins with profit participation in only one Hobbit movie.
According to Deadline, the Weinsteins received $12.5 million from Jackson’s first Hobbit movie, which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide (the Weinsteins’ old studio Miramax also got $12.5 million). Throughout the dispute Warner Bros. maintained that "They (the Weinsteins) agreed to be paid only on the first motion picture based on The Hobbit. And that’s all they’re owed," and the mutually chosen arbitrator agreed with Warners.
So this dispute is apparently over, though Deadline reports that discoveries concerning the disposition of the profits from the Hobbit movies made in conjunction with this case will likely lead to a detailed audit of the profits from Warner Bros. and New Line’s Tolkien movies, and perhaps even more legal wrangling.
Arbitrator Dismisses $75 Million Suit
Posted by ICv2 on November 17, 2014 @ 10:48 am CT
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