New Line Chief: Jackson Won’t Direct ‘Hobbit’ Prequel “On My Watch”
New Line Co-chairman Bob Shaye has made it clear that his decision not to bring back Peter Jackson to direct the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit is final and not just a negotiating ploy.
In an interview with the online Sci-Fi Wire, Shaye said that hiring Jackson for The Hobbit “will never happen during my watch.”
He claimed that Jackson had received “a quarter of a billion dollars paid to him so far, justifiably, according to contract, completely right, and this guy … turns around without wanting to have a discussion with us and sues us and refused to discuss it unless we just give in to his plan. … I don’t want to work with that guy anymore.”
Shaye then emphasized: “He will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I’m still working at the company.”
Jackson quickly fired back that he had tried to discuss the issues with New Line “for over a year, but the studio was and continues to be completely uncooperative.”
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