Weinsteins Sue Warner Over Proceeds on ‘Hobbit' Films

LOS ANGELES - Bob and Harvey Weinstein escalated a legal dispute over their claim to a share in the proceeds from the new “Hobbit” films by Warner Bros. with a lawsuit filed in a New York state court on Tuesday.

The brothers shared in the income from the 2012 film “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” thanks to an agreement under which they sold film rights to J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth fantasies before founding their current studio, the Weinstein Company. Their suit claims they are owed a similar share in subsequent Hobbit films, including “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which is set for release by Warner and its New Line Cinema unit on Friday.

Warner, which disputes the claim, says the Weinsteins committed “one of the great blunders in movie history” by entering into a contract that only gave them a stake in one film. “They agreed to be paid only on the first motion picture based on ‘The Hobbit,'” said the Warner statement, “And that's all they're owed.”

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” had worldwide ticket sales of more than $1 billion following its release last December.