The epic trilogy producer Saul Zaentz accuses the studio for breaching contract to cooperate with an audit by his company concerning profits over the films.
- December 15, 2007
AceShowbiz -
Trouble keeps afflicting New Line Cinema regarding its "Lords of the Rings" franchise. Saul Zaentz, a producer backing the trilogy, is reported to have placed a legal suit against the studio, urging it to disclose its accounting details for the hit epic series.
Filed on Thursday in Los Angeles, the lawsuit alleged New Line for contract breaching by refusing to cooperate with an audit by Zaentz's company and so, asks a judge to force the film company to cooperate with the audit and to pay damages. A spokeswoman for New Line, however, refused to give any comments concerning the case.
Zaentz was known to obtain the rights to "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" novels in 1976, all by J.R.R. Tolkien, and be the one who licensed them to Miramax Film Corp, which later assigned the license to New Line. According to the man, the license specified that he would receive a share of the adjusted gross receipts from the three films as well as the right to audit New Line's accounting books for them.
