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I mean, that's just embarrassing from The Tolkien Estate. Random bus drivers in third world backwaters know about Hollywood accounting. They should have negotia

I mean, that's just embarrassing from The Tolkien Estate. Random bus drivers in third world backwaters know about Hollywood accounting. They should have negotiated for 7.5% of revenue.

gjsman-1000 3y ago
The Tolkien Estate’s hands were tied because the movie rights were sold to United Artists for $75K + 7.5% by Tolkien himself in 1969. At the time it seemed like a good deal to Tolkien. A lot of money for something unfilmable with late-60s technology; but it would also help pay the heavy taxes his children would bear upon his death (which was, for him, the primary motivation). This was just movie rights though. When Amazon wanted TV Show rights, the Estate squeezed out $250M. The Estate has also never sold any Silmarillion-related material.
- bscphil 3y ago
  > At the time it seemed like a good deal to Tolkien. A lot of money for something unfilmable with late-60s technology Heh. Unfilmable didn't stop United Artists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_fi... (tongue firmly in cheek)
  - zimpenfish 3y ago
    > Unfilmable Pedantically, since it was animated, it wasn't "filmed" thus fulfilling the "unfilmable" part.
    - evan_ 3y ago
      Since we’re being pedantic… Wait’ll you find out what happens after they do the drawings.
      - Am4TIfIsER0ppos 3y ago
        They draw them in real time at 24 fps? Wow.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Huh; so indirectly estate taxes got us some of the best fantasy movies of the last couple generations. Meanwhile, an IP well controlled by the author’s family got us some… decent but basically bland Amazon show (I honestly thought the Amazon show was perfectly fine background TV).
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    >decent but basically bland Amazon show That's the most accurate description of that show I've read yet. But I will hand it to them: their depiction of the orcs was fantastic.
    - unmole 3y ago
      The Orc story line and the Durin/Elrond bromance are the only redeeming aspects of the show.
      - midoridensha 3y ago
        For story lines, those are huge parts of the show... Probably at least half the screen time, I'm guessing. Anyway, I'm just talking about the visual depiction of the orcs. Compared to the LotR movies and Hobbit trilogy, they're utterly fantastic in this show; exactly what Tolkein himself probably would have imagined. The costuming there was just superb.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  >The Estate has also never sold any Silmarillion-related material. Why not? That was one of the big problems with Amazon's show: it couldn't use any material from The Silmarillion, only the appendices from RotK. Why wouldn't the estate want to capitalize on that, perhaps with some clauses to make sure it doesn't get butchered too much? They capitalized on the extra LotR material (to the tune of $250M as you said), so why stop there?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - monocasa 3y ago
    I wonder if they already optioned the rights to someone who's just sitting on them.
bombcar 3y ago
IIRC Tolkien sold the movie rights back in the 60s, so decades ago.
unmole 3y ago
Off topic but I understand that LOTR will enter the Public Domain in India, New Zealand and a a few other countries next year. I want to see if anyone does anything about it

I mean, that's just embarrassing from The Tolkien Estate. Random bus drivers in third world backwaters know about Hollywood accounting. They should have negotiated for 7.5% of revenue.

gjsman-1000 3y ago

The Tolkien Estate’s hands were tied because the movie rights were sold to United Artists for $75K + 7.5% by Tolkien himself in 1969. At the time it seemed like a good deal to Tolkien. A lot of money for something unfilmable with late-60s technology; but it would also help pay the heavy taxes his children would bear upon his death (which was, for him, the primary motivation). This was just movie rights though. When Amazon wanted TV Show rights, the Estate squeezed out $250M. The Estate has also never sold any Silmarillion-related material.

bscphil 3y ago
> At the time it seemed like a good deal to Tolkien. A lot of money for something unfilmable with late-60s technology Heh. Unfilmable didn't stop United Artists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_fi... (tongue firmly in cheek)
- zimpenfish 3y ago
  > Unfilmable Pedantically, since it was animated, it wasn't "filmed" thus fulfilling the "unfilmable" part.
  - evan_ 3y ago
    Since we’re being pedantic… Wait’ll you find out what happens after they do the drawings.
    - Am4TIfIsER0ppos 3y ago
      They draw them in real time at 24 fps? Wow.
bee_rider 3y ago
Huh; so indirectly estate taxes got us some of the best fantasy movies of the last couple generations. Meanwhile, an IP well controlled by the author’s family got us some… decent but basically bland Amazon show (I honestly thought the Amazon show was perfectly fine background TV).
- midoridensha 3y ago
  >decent but basically bland Amazon show That's the most accurate description of that show I've read yet. But I will hand it to them: their depiction of the orcs was fantastic.
  - unmole 3y ago
    The Orc story line and the Durin/Elrond bromance are the only redeeming aspects of the show.
    - midoridensha 3y ago
      For story lines, those are huge parts of the show... Probably at least half the screen time, I'm guessing. Anyway, I'm just talking about the visual depiction of the orcs. Compared to the LotR movies and Hobbit trilogy, they're utterly fantastic in this show; exactly what Tolkein himself probably would have imagined. The costuming there was just superb.
midoridensha 3y ago
>The Estate has also never sold any Silmarillion-related material. Why not? That was one of the big problems with Amazon's show: it couldn't use any material from The Silmarillion, only the appendices from RotK. Why wouldn't the estate want to capitalize on that, perhaps with some clauses to make sure it doesn't get butchered too much? They capitalized on the extra LotR material (to the tune of $250M as you said), so why stop there?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- monocasa 3y ago
  I wonder if they already optioned the rights to someone who's just sitting on them.

bombcar 3y ago

IIRC Tolkien sold the movie rights back in the 60s, so decades ago.

unmole 3y ago

Off topic but I understand that LOTR will enter the Public Domain in India, New Zealand and a a few other countries next year. I want to see if anyone does anything about it