New Line and Tolkien Trust in Negotiations

“The Tolkien Trust and New Line are at least in talks. They have twice been able to agree on extensions in the deadline for the studio to file a response to the complaint. The two sides appear to have been in discussions since around March 7, and New Line has agreed to let the Trust look at some documents relevant to an audit, presumably regarding the income and expenses relating to the trilogy. Such moves suggest to me that both sides have some reason to believe that the case can be settled. The Trust has not filed an injunction barring New Line from beginning production on The Hobbit. The filmmakers keep hinting that the project is slowly moving toward an official start of pre-production.”