The Precious, they all wants it...

New Line Cinema must have a death wish. The Lord of the Rings trilogy revitalized what was a financially struggling studio. But after raking in billions of dollars worldwide, the studio picked a fight over compensation of the director, Peter Jackson.

Now, after appearing to secure the rights to film further works based on The Hobbit, New Line has to respond to allegations by the Tolkien estate they never paid royalties from the use of the material.

Hobbits may be remarkably resistant to the lure of The Ring, but Hollywood executives appear to be a little too jealous of box office receipts for their own good.

(HT: Vox Day)