[the hobbit] greed blights middle-earth

Sad, sad and sad. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are in a legal battle with New Line over the profits from Lord of the Rings. As the Chicago Tribune says:

So naturally New Line is looking for someone else to direct [the new Hobbit film]. At least that’s what Jackson and producing/writing partner Fran Walsh say in a long letter posted Sunday night on TheOneRing.net, a Tolkien fan site. They contend that New Line insisted on linking a "Hobbit" deal-which might involve two movies-with the settlement of a lawsuit by the filmmakers’ production company over "LOTR" profits. Jackson and Walsh write that their position has remained that they wouldn’t enter business with New Line again until the suit was resolved-and they didn’t want a "Hobbit" agreement to be tied to working out legal issues.

And there it is. Due to greed over profits, the public will miss out on what was a winning combination.