LOS ANGELES (AP) Pay up, Frodo.
So says Saul Zaentz, the Hollywood producer who has sued New
Line Cinema for $20 million in royalties from the blockbuster
``Lord of the Rings'' trilogy.
According to the suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior
Court, Zaentz says New Line Cinema owes him that amount based on a
partial audit of the first movie in the series, ``The Fellowship of
the Ring.''
He also wants an additional $700,000 in compensatory damages.
New Line officials refused comment.
Zaentz had held the rights to the J.R.R. Tolkien story since
1976 and said he optioned them for a percentage of the profits from
the Peter Jackson movies, which grossed a total of nearly $3
billion worldwide.
Zaentz has a history of legal wrangles.
In the 1980s, he fought ugly and public legal battles with his
ex-wife over the profits from ``Amadeus'' and with John Fogerty,
the frontman for Creedence Clearwater Revival, a group he once
oversaw as the head of Fantasy Records.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)