Judge Slaps New Line With Sanction

U.S. Magistrate Steven Hillman has ordered New Line Cinema to pay $125,000 in sanctions over the film company’s failure to provide documents related to the film’s revenue stream in its legal battle with Peter Jackson over “Lord of the Rings” accounting, according to Variety.

The judge is claiming that, based upon the evidence (or lack of it) so far, New Line may have destroyed documents and failed to search for certain documents and emails it was required by the court to produce.

Director Peter Jackson and his wife brought the lawsuit against New Line last year. It alleges that he has not received proper accounting of income from “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring,” and that, as a result, he and his production company have been cheated out of their fair-share of the profit “Rings” made at the box office.

This ruling could add gasoline to the flame of the already seething talks between the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). It is the contention of the WGA that many of its members have been denied an accurate accounting of film residuals from the AMPTP and Judge Hillman’s ruling against New Line gives credence to the Guild’s charge.

Talks between AMPTP and the WGA have been going nowhere of late and a strike appears inevitable.