TheOneRing.net reported here at the end of January that Guillermo del Toro was 99 percent sure to direct “The Hobbit”. Since then the Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema (a copy of which can be found here) and the movie studio has been folded up and put in the pocket of its owner Warner Bros. and its bigger parent Time Warner Inc.

After all the speculation and angst, the director of two “Hellboy” films (the second set for a July 11 release) still seems to be the top choice for director and despite the legal uncertainty, the quiet movements by the key players seem to suggest the film will still be made and sooner rather than later. So in this season of waiting, TORn was finally able to contact the fan-friendly director.
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Kristin Thompson writes: I have now had a chance to go through the text of the Tolkien Trust’s suit against New Line with my lawyer as a guide. To help fans understand what’s going on, I’ve tried to lay out the basic facts of the case and what they may lead to as objectively as possible on The Frodo Franchise blog.

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Kristin Thompson writes: We must have posted on the Wall Street Journal’s news about the Bewkes/New Line situation at about the same time. You might want to add a link to The Frodo Franchise, where I lay out what’s new in the story and give a link to the WSJ story itself. You might want just to add a link to the WSJ story. It’s a lot more detailed than the imdb summary suggests.

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New Line Cinema is being sued once again over royalties relating to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This suit also has the possibility of derailing any Hobbit movies currently in the works.

Uh oh! Not good for Tolkien fandom. Read the full story through the following link and talk about it with other fans in our forum! [ Tolkien Estate Sues New Line Cinema]

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Shannon Erickson has a David and Goliath-type tale to share, inspired by a Google search. Erickson, who owns three local preschools — Hobbit Hill, Hobbit Hill Too and Hobbit Hill Cottage — is the “little guy” in this story. The big guy? The J.R.R. Tolkien Foundation of California. And in this version, the giant wins the battle. It all started about nine months ago, when Erickson was contacted by legal representatives of the late author, renowned for his books such as “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series. They claimed that Tolkien invented the word “hobbit,” and that Erickson, tracked down via the popular Internet search engine, was illegally using the term for her businesses. Preschool owner learns origin of ‘hobbit’ is big deal

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