[colonelxc]

IvyMike wasn't asking how it was done, but why people still seem to get screwed by it. Why didn't Jackson's lawyers know better? Asking for something like a percentage of the box office sales, or similar should be standard practice.

[michaelhoffman]

Jackson's lawyers know to ask for a percentage of the gross. And the studio lawyers know not to give it up.

[Evbn]

Then Jackson doesn't make the movie, and the studio doesn't profit.

[michaelhoffman]

That's an interesting opinion, but I doubt the studio considered Jackson essential to making the Lord of the Rings movies. They had the rights and financing, and both they and Jackson knew they could have found someone else to direct.

[tellarin]

For The Hobbit on the other hand...