The Pettiness of New Line Cinema ... or is it merely Robert Shaye

The Guardian newspaper has an article about how one petty little man called Robert Shaye has the power to stop the spectacular Tolkien series from being completed by an incredibly talented director simply because that director wants an audit done due to possible financial irregularites discovered in the first of the movies Shayne's company financed ... ahhh democracy, alive and well I see ...

Mr Shayne really should place more trust in the proven kiwi director called Peter Jackson, the man who produced the Lord of the Rings trilogy and earned New Line Cinema a profit of $3billion - Shayne is merely a money man ... nothing more.

I will make a point of blacklisting anything put out by New Line Cinema because quite frankly, I'm appalled by their actions.

The story?

Peter Jackson's long-cherished Hobbit movie appeared to be dead in the water after the director was effectively blacklisted by his former backers, New Line Cinema.

"I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me," Shaye said in an interview with the Sci Fi Channel. "So the answer is that he will never make any movies with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working for the company."

New Line currently controls the film rights to The Hobbit, the Tolkien fantasy that paved the way for The Lord of the Rings.

Initially regarded as a high-risk gamble, the Lord of the Rings trilogy wound up making nearly $3bn at the global box office. But Jackson's production company launched a lawsuit against New Line following the alleged discovery of financial anomalies in a partial audit of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film of the trilogy. Jackson contends that the studio has refused to agree to an audit of the other two films, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

"Fundamentally our legal action is about holding New Line to its contractual obligations and promises," Jackson said in a statement. "It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make it personal."

The original article can be found here in SciFi.com and Peter Jackson's reply is here .