There is a very strange phenomenon in the history of film. But the birth process of all classic movies that later shocked the world was full of ups and downs, and the same is true for the masterpiece series in film history that I will talk about today. Copyright issues

As for this series of movies, everyone should know that they come from the fantasy novel "Xiao Jie". As a well-known masterpiece in the West, this movie has actually been adapted into various movies, animations, etc. many times since its birth. Because of this, copyright issues are quite complicated.

In the 1970s, a producer bought the film rights from United Artists and later from the original author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Descendants obtained the trademark rights to all characters, scenes, and objects in the novel.

In 1978, a company named So-and-so was established to handle licensing related to the works of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. In the same year, Peter Jackson at that time read the original novel of a certain ring and was quickly impressed by it.

The time soon came to the 1990s. While filming the movie Patient, we had a falling out with the Hollywood giant Fox Pictures. After irreconcilable differences, Fox angrily announced its withdrawal. At this time, Harvey Weinstein (I believe everyone is familiar with this person) Miramax Films funded the filming of Patient XX, which later became a success. And he also formed a good relationship with Miramax.

At that time, Peter Jackson, who had been in the film industry for many years, had also become a slightly famous director, and he was planning to ask Miramax, who had collaborated with him many times, to shoot this movie. Project ideas. Due to the previous relationship, this naturally suited Weinstein's wishes, so the project quickly began to advance. Initially, Peter Jackson planned to make three movies, the first one is Who, and the second and third movies are this movie. Distribution rights issues

However, things soon went wrong. Although Saul Zaenz owned the film and television production rights to someone's novel, the film distribution rights were still in the hands of United Artists, which at that time had been acquired by another giant, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, at a high price. For this reason, Weinstein had to go to negotiate with MGM Film Company. However, MGM Film Company at that time was unable to sell any assets due to its own corporate problems.

As a result, the project of What Ring has changed again. Miramax Film Company asked Peter Jackson to suspend the filming of Who, and only make two movies of King.

Although Peter Jackson agreed to put someone down first, he still hoped to make three Middle-earth movies. However, due to Harvey Weinstein’s insistence, he could only compromise and make two movies. department. Funding issues

However, as early work on the project began, trouble soon arose again. The funds required for the film were so huge that the budget Miramax Films gave Peter Jackson at the beginning was completely insufficient. Not a little worse, but a lot worse. In this case, Harvey Weinstein had no choice but to turn to his parent company, The Walt Disney Company. However, the answer from Walt Disney Company executives was clear: no.

The reason why the Walt Disney Company refused at that time was that Harvey Weinstein was unwilling to show them the script of the movie. But in fact, everyone knew that this was just a pretense. Since he came to ask the parent company for financing, How could I not let you see the project? Ultimately, I still don’t believe this movie can be a hit.

In response, Harvey Weinstein wanted to cut the budget from the series itself, so he asked Peter Jackson to make a movie. Peter Jackson thought about it at the time and said yes, but the movie must be four hours long. Harvey Weinstein strongly disagreed and said, "Why use 4 hours? If you combine the two places in the movie, why do you need 4 hours for the main character, the Hobbit?" Just cut off 2 and leave 2. In this case, a 2-hour movie will be completed.

I guess Peter was dumbfounded when he heard Weinstein's suggestion. With this change, can the film be called a movie?

Due to Peter Jackson’s persistent opposition, Harvey Weinstein gave him a final notice. Give you three weeks to find companies willing to invest. This was a tough time for Peter Jackson, who was looking for an acceptable manufacturer in Hollywood with a certain king project. The first companies he went to were Universal Pictures and DreamWorks, but their attitude was the same as that of Walt Disney Company, and they simply refused.

Then Peter Jackson went to Fox. Fox executives were originally very interested in this project, but after knowing the copyright owner, they directly rejected it and said they did not want to have anything to do with this person. .

Taken together, this project is very risky, so no Hollywood studio wants to take it over. Harvey Weinstein, who saw Peter Jackson running into obstacles everywhere, was actually in a very happy mood, because he knew that other Hollywood studios would definitely reject it, and Peter Jackson would have no choice but to come back and listen to him in despair. The turning point is coming

However, at this time, the turning point is coming. The chairman of New Line Cinema at the time, after learning about the project, he was keenly aware that it was a project that was likely to be a hit. Of course, according to his own words, he also considers himself a gambler in the film industry. The risks are high, but the rewards are also high if successful.

After seeing some previously completed projects and scripts, he asked Peter Jackson to come over and talk. At the beginning, Peter Jackson just said that he would just make two movies, "What? Two movies? Isn't the original three books? Why not three?" At that time, Peter could hardly believe his ears.

Later, the project was transferred from Miramax Films to New Line Cinema, which also fully supported the project. Miramax Films retained a small share of the cut, and Harvey Weinstein only had an executive producer title. In fact, New Line Cinema almost sold everything in order to support this project. The original budget was originally about US$130 million to shoot three films, but later the budget continued to increase, and finally reached US$281 million.

The final result, this series, has become an insurmountable peak in the history of film.