It appears the ongoing battle between New Line and Lord Of The Ring Peter Jackson, has reached a new nadir of nastiness. Following Jackson’s announcement in November that he and production cohort Fran Walsh, would not be involved in the making of Rings prequel **The Hobbit - **due to a continuing legal battle over payment from **The Fellowship Of The Ring - **tension between the director and the studio has been building. Speaking to SCI FI Wire, it seems New Line Chief Exec, Robert Shaye, has now begun to command the forces of darkness against Jackson:
“There's a kind of arrogance” explained Shaye. “He [Jackson] got a quarter of a billion dollars paid to him so far, justifiably, according to contract, completely right, and this guy, who already has received a quarter of a billion dollars, turns around without wanting to have a discussion with us and sues us and refuses to discuss it unless we just give in to his plan.”
Earlier today Jackson responded to Shaye’s comments in the trade paper Variety. “It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make [the argument] personal” said the director. “I have always had the highest respect and affection for Bob and other senior management at New Line and continue to do so." The New Line boss was unrelenting: “I don't want to work with that guy anymore. Why would I? So the answer is he will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working for the company”.
As the possibility of a Jackson-led return to the Tolkien universe seems increasingly remote, this saga unfortunately continues…