New Line news

[Melko Belcha]

http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1077156370

I was readying this about New Line trying to get the rights to The Hobbit. And I found this very distubing.

New Line says that if it can't do a deal with MGM, it may go back to the drawing board and either its own prequel filling in the period between "The Hobbit" and the first "Rings" book, or a sequel that follows on from "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." However, that option faces a number of potential complications, including the Tolkien family. While the family still benefits from sales of the books, they signed away their say on any films based on "The Lord of the Rings" or "The Hobbit" when Tolkien sold the rights to MGM. But a new prequel or sequel could be another matter.

Starting from scratch with a new story also would involve extending Tolkien's fantasy world without the Tolkien vision, and his fans may object. "To take some elves and short guys with furry feet and invent new challenges for them that aren't in the source material ... would be a betrayal of Tolkien and Jackson's achievements," says Houghton Mifflin's Harper.

So are they saying that even if they don't get the rights that it dosn't matter because their going to film something anyways? This is to me a disrespect to Tolkien and the world he created. I would hate to see anyone, even Christopher Tolkien, try to write a sequel to LotR, even more if it's in the hands of Hollywood, a place famous for making sequels that don't even come close to the originals.