Film Rights to First & Second Age

[davem]

Originally Posted by StW

Now Zaentz owns a property which has been impacted and its usage is made problematic or impossible by the subsequent publication of the larger work.

Question: if I sell you exclusive film rights for a 1,000 word short story can I then wait a few years, write a novel length version of the story including many of the same characters, scenes, and events and sell that version to someone else in film rights? Would not the appearance of a far more detailed book length version compound and greatly impact my efforts to use the rights I have already purchased from you?

Of course, I could still do it. But your subsequent actions will cause my legal usage of those original rights to be ridiculed, derided and castigated because they are different that what people have read in the fuller treatment.

Still trying to work out what your point is, but from this it seems that you're worried about Saul Zaentz/putative maker of a movie based on the synopsis in Appendix A being embarrassed by not being able to use subsequently published works & having to make stuff up.

They certainly could find themselves embarrassed - if they decide to make a movie based on that synopsis & invent new material. Of course, they don't have to make such a movie, & thus can avoid any such potential embarrassment. But the real point you're missing is that nothing in the synopsis contained in LotR is contradicted by the published Silmarillion. The only problem (if red faces are to be considered a problem) would arise if they attempted to expand on the matter they own.

The fact is that any film-maker licenced by Zaentz is as free now to put together a movie script based on that material in LotR, & fill in any gaps, as they were before The Sil was published. The only problem is that we now have the 'official' version. Now, its quite possible that the audience for such a movie either would not care that it is not Tolkien's version of the story, & may even prefer it over Tolkien's work. Whatever, the only thing that has changed is that we now know what Tolkien intended, & therefore we would know if a movie maker invented a new version. Zaentz has the same rights now as he purchased from UA.

What you seem to be getting het up about is the possibility that Saul Zaentz/potential movie maker may end up looking a bit silly. And, speaking for myself, all I can say to that is 'I think you have me confused with someone who cares."