Harvey Weinstein and Warner Bros in Hobbit legal showdown

Hollywood producer and studio go to arbitration over claims they owe him millions for Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy

• Ben Child - theguardian.com, Thursday 5 December 2013

Film producer Harvey Weinstein is locked in a battle with Warner Bros over profits from the next two films in Peter Jackson's JRR Tolkien fantasy trilogy, The Hobbit.

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2. Production year: 2013
3. Country: USA
4. Directors: Peter Jackson
5. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage
6. More on this film

The studio is taking the dispute to arbitration after the Weinstein Company, which is co-owned by Weinstein and his brother, Bob, claimed a percentage of proceeds from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and its forthcoming follow-up. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Weinsteins believe they are owed a share of profits due to their previous ownership of Miramax, which once held screen rights to Tolkien's 1937 children's book and its epic sequel, The Lord of the Rings. Warner suggests the brothers are only owed profits from one Hobbit movie, not three.

Left - Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Photograph: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features

The dispute arose because Jackson originally planned to shoot Tolkien's book as one movie. It was later expanded to two, then three films. The arbitration is required because a legal contract for the films reportedly contains language that may support both points of view.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will open in cinemas on 13 December, with the final instalment of the series due out in December 2014.
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