re: ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ Film and Gaming Rights Up for Sale

quote:

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The family should only sell rights to companies who agree that the Tolkien estate has absolute casting, showrruner, and story outline control of the property.

Thats the only way to prevent it from becoming an abomination. The family has all the leverage here.

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That sounds noble, and I'd wish they would do that. But the fact is, "grandpa" wrote something that you could either hover over and continuously employ lawyers to piece out bit by bit, or you could sign the Lucas deal and become billionaires, and own some private first-run copies as heirlooms.

It hasn't happened yet, and perhaps never will, but at some point there may be another property that supplants it in the pecking order. If that happens and the family HASN'T cashed in, there will be some pissed offspring.