Mogul Zaentz, New Line Settle Suit Over ‘Rings’
Movie and music mogul Saul Zaentz and New Line Cinema have reached an out-of-court settlement in a suit over foreign royalties from director Peter Jackson’s blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.
Details of the settlement, reached this month, were not made public.
Zaentz, who has been paid millions in royalties, had claimed in a lawsuit that the studio had cheated him out of nearly $20 million in additional royalties received from foreign distributors, according to Daily Variety, which first reported the settlement.
The 84-year-old Zaentz, who produced the Oscar-winning film “The English Patient,” had acquired the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s bestselling fantasy work years ago but did little with the rights, except to make a 1978 animated version.
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-- Robert W. Welkos
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