A ring of mire

New Line, which eventually secured the rights, was allowed to deduct some costs from its "Lord of the Rings" income such as taxes, but not the big-ticket expenses that studios like to take -- such as distribution fees or overhead, according to Eskenazi. So even with all the loot that New Line has pocketed on the films, there is not a shekel, a ducat, a baht, a euro or a dollar for some elderly Tolkiens? Eskenazi estimates the family is owed $150 million, but even that number is a little fuzzy, because according to the lawsuit the family has never been allowed to audit the second or third films.

I guess they're supposed to just trust the studio.

Eskenazi explained that the family tried to settle their dispute with New Line for years, to little avail. "There were meetings and discussions out the wazoo, but New Line was entrenched. . . . We literally have gotten not a single penny of participation. New Line has said to us that, based on their reading of the contract, it doesn't matter how much money the films make, they'll never have to pay us anything, which is impossible."

Multiple lawsuits

The Tolkiens are hardly the only ones who've had to take New Line to court to get what they see as their fair share.

In 2005, writer-director Jackson sued the studio, claiming he'd been underpaid by as much as $100 million because the company sold ancillary rights to other divisions of Warner Bros. at discounted prices, meaning there was less gross for gross-profit participants like Jackson. He also claimed he hadn't been allowed to audit the books. That suit flared into an ugly personal battle between Jackson and then New Line chieftain Bob Shaye, and at one point the judge angrily fined the New Line legal team $125,000 for failing to produce (and potentially even destroying) relevant documents and e-mails. Still, that case was ultimately settled, as everyone wanted to get back to the serious business of making the double-film "LOTR" prequel, "The Hobbit," with Jackson on board as producer.

Producer Zaentz also sued New Line -- twice. The first time he claimed the studio cheated him out of $20 million in royalties received from foreign investors. That suit was settled, and last December he sued again, claiming New Line wouldn't let him audit their books.

"It's Lord of the Lawsuits," jokes attorney Pierce O'Donnell, who famously represented humorist Art Buchwald in his victorious "Coming to America" lawsuit against Paramount. "How much have these movies grossed? Hundreds of millions of dollars? You know what they say: The most creative people in Hollywood are accountants."