10 Famous Films That Failed To Turn A Profit Thanks To Hollywood Accounting

Critically acclaimed with 17 Academy Awards to its name and worldwide box office profits totalling just under $3 billion, it’s undeniable that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is hugely successful. Yet according to New Line Cinema the Tolkien epic suffered “horrendous losses” profit-wise thanks to good old Hollywood accounting.

This claim prompted a plethora of lawsuits from LOTR’s cast, crew and rights-holders. Film producer and music mogul Saul Zaentz who owned certain rights relating to Tolkien’s literary works filed a suit against New Line citing $20 million owed in unpaid compensation and several New Zealander cast members who had acted in the trilogy lodged a lawsuit against the studio for unpaid revenue from merchandise bearing their physical likeness.

The latter was eventually settled out of court in 2008 though came a bit late for actor Noel Appleby (who played hobbit Everard Proudfoot) who died in 2007.

New Line also came under fire from the Tolkien Trust, the UK charity that handles Tolkien’s estate, which demanded payment for unpaid royalties and even Peter Jackson himself brought a lawsuit against the studio claiming unpaid millions in profits from the trilogy’s first film The Fellowship of the Ring.