Cinematical

You may remember seeing the name "Saul Zaentz" in the opening credits of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies. His name is also listed on the credits for the Ralph Bakshi animated version from 1978. So who is Saul Zaentz, anyway? He's the producer who, in 1976, bought the rights to Tolkien's works and, logically, started up a company called Tolkien Enterprises. So what that basically means is that New Line "leased" the LOTR rights from Zaentz ... and it looks like those rights will be reverting back to the guy some time next year.

And apparently Saul Zaentz really wants Peter Jackson to direct the Hobbit movie. Matter of fact, Showbiz Data is carrying a quote from Mr. Z that states the following: "It will definitely be shot by Peter Jackson." Hey, cool! The mega-millionaire also takes a quick little swipe at New Line for forcing Jackson to take legal action against the studio in an effort to get his Fellowship merchandising money. Heh. I like this Zaentz fella. And if he can manage to get Peter Jackson back into the director's chair for The Hobbit, well, I'll like him a whole lot more.

Saul Zaentz also has a producer's credit on titles like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient, which means he also has three Academy Awards in addition to several huge piles of money.