The Hobbit hits trouble…
Christopher Tolkien, the son of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien, will attempt to halt production on the upcoming Hobbit prequels.
The 83-year-old is asking for “one last crusade” against the film’s producers in his long-running legal battle over money owed for the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ movies.
Tolkien claims that he is owed £80 million ($157 million) from a film deal that his father signed in 1969 to cover a tax bill.
At a hearing scheduled for June 6, Tolkien will ask a California judge to “terminate” film rights to ‘The Hobbit’. Tolkien’s lawyer claims studio New Line, which earned around £3 billion from the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy, is guilty of “accounting chicanery”
‘The Hobbit’, which was written before and whose story precedes LOTR, will be executive produced by Peter Jackson but directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth).