LOTR Battle Almost Blew Up
Actors from trilogy upset over bonuses from films
Has New Line been fair to the actors of its highly successful trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings"? Now, it appears they are, but for a little while, they weren't.
According to Newsweek, cast members from the trilogy started to fight back over the distribution of bonuses to the players that were based on the success of the films. According to the report, New Line offered several of the cast members bonuses for the second film, "The Two Towers." However, despite the fact that the movie made more money than the initial outing, "The Fellowship of the Ring," the bonuses for the second film were smaller than the first, and wasn't offered to as many people as the first.
With talks breaking down to making the money equal for more actors, 18 of the players reportedly got together and composed a letter to Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons, talking about the issue. However, the actors actually decided not to send the letter, fearing it would harm their relations with the studio.
Instead, the actors made a "vigorous appeal" to New Line executive vice president Mark Ordesky. That seemed to be enough, as the studio decided to pay cast members above and beyond their profit-participation deals, and even going as far as giving money to some of the actors who had no previous deal in place as well.
The final film in the trilogy, "The Return of the King," premieres in theaters Dec. 17.
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