By now it has become so customary to see the words "New Line" and "Lord of the Rings" and "lawsuit" together that I almost didn't even bother looking into this story. But then I noticed that it could affect the making of those two Hobbit movies we're all so excited about. Yes, that's right, there's a chance those movies are in jeopardy again, thanks to the folks running the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien. According to the Associated Press, this latest suit was filed Monday by The Tolkien Trust, a British charity that manages Tolkien's estate, and HarperCollins, the publishing company that originally put out the Lord of the Rings books.

The main claim is that New Line has failed to pay The Tolkien Trust and other plaintiffs a promised 7.5% of the Lord of the Rings trilogy's gross receipts. The amount asked for in the case, however, is only $150 million, which (correct me if I'm wrong) seems to me to be a mere 2.5% of the reported $6 billion the films have earned worldwide. The plaintiffs also seek unspecified punitive charges and the right to terminate New Line's rights to make those Hobbit movies being executive produced by LOTR director Peter Jackson. An attorney for the Tolkien estate mentioned that The Tolkien Trust does not "file lawsuits lightly" and has tried its hardest to settle the matter out of court. So, it looks like this will be a serious, long-going battle. And just when we thought everyone involved in these films was happy and ready to move on. We'll have to wait and see if we get those "prequels", at the helm of Guillermo Del Toro or anyone else, in 2010 and 2011 after all.

As a die-hard Lost fan, I'm going to miss "Charlie" (or as Claire says, "CHAHlee"), the character played by Dominic Monaghan. But at least I'll get to see the actor return to the big screen in Pet. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Monaghan has been cast as the lead in the psychological thriller, in which he plays a deranged animal shelter employee who kidnaps his teenage crush and obsessively holds her captive as his pet. The only other plot point provided by the trade is that the woman he's imprisoned is "not who she seems to be." That could mean anything, from her being an alien to her being a shape-shifter who turns into an actual animal to her being something more realistic, such as a female "MacGyver" who ends up escaping her cage and wrecking vengeance on "Seth", as Monaghan's character is called.

For Monaghan, Pet seems like a big step further into unlikable roles. Most of us became familiar with the actor as one of the lovable Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then we fell for his flawed rocker on Lost, though except for in the very end, we were made to lose favor for "Charlie", as he continually lied, shot up heroin and acted like a spoiled little bitch. Then he frustrated many male Lost fans by becoming the unlikely boyfriend of his co-star Evangeline Lilly (I'm unsure if they are still a couple -- anyone know?). Now as a creepy "Buffalo Bill" type, he's sure to lose even more of his appeal -- at least on screen, anyway. Pet begins shooting sometime in the next few months under the direction of Irish filmmaker Edna Enda McCallion (at least I think she's the director, the trade doesn't make it entirely clear), who can be seen in this clip giving a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his music video for the Nine Inch Nails song "Deep".

If, like me, you really dug the Spider-Man trilogy, but still held out some hope that director Sam Raimi would one day return to his low-budget horror stomping grounds, well, I've got some pretty excellent news. No, it's not a sequel to (or remake of) The Evil Dead ... but it does sound pretty promising. According to Variety, Mr. Raimi will direct Drag Me to Hell for his Ghost House production shingle, from a screenplay written by Raimi and his big brother Ivan. According to the director's long-time collaborator Robert Tapert, "Sam calls it a 'spook-a-blast,' a wild ride with all the chills and spills that 'Evil Dead' delivered, without relying on the excessive violence of that film."

Plus there's (yet another) off-hand reference to the (eventually) impending Evil Dead remake. So overall, that's some pretty excellent news if you're a horror fan. But just as I was finishing up the article, my eyeballs became krazy-glued to the following passage:

"After "Drag Me to Hell," Raimi is expected to go right back up the mountaintop and take the helm of "The Hobbit" films for New Line and MGM now that Peter Jackson has made it clear he won't direct." (The bold-face is mine.)

Boom! I know it's been mumbled about for a few months now, but is that like ... official? (One might expect news like that to warrant its very own article, that's all I'm saying.) But dang. Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson working together?? On The Hobbit? Oh dear lord that sounds freaking awesome. Nobody pinch me.

When I think of New Line Cinema, my first thought is of Freddy Krueger. Then Lord of the Rings. And then probably Austin Powers. Aside from a stray piece of quality cinema here and there, though, New Line has been pretty darn unreliable lately. (Or very reliable if you're someone who loves bad movies.) Seems they've burned all of the Rings goodwill (and profits) on titles like After the Sunset, Blade: Trinity, Son of the Mask, King's Ransom, Monster-in-Law, The Man, Final Destination 3, Take the Lead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and The Last Mimzy. (On the other hand we have the very amusing Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, the even funnier Wedding Crashers, the silly-but-fun Snakes on a Plane, the excellent Little Children, the dicey Running Scared, the underrated Fracture and this summer's Hairspray.)

But according to this rather illuminating article from the L.A. Times, New Line is looking for an image make-over -- and they want one in a hurry. With longtime marketing chief Russell Schwartz gone and new arrival Chris Carlisle ready to take over, New Line aims to dig itself out of last place, profits-wise. To that end they've been rejiggering a lot of their impending releases (such as Mr. Woodcock, Martian Child and Rendition), but there's really no denying that they spent waaaaaay too much money on Rush Hour 3. But I guess the studio was desperate for a summertime tent-pole of their own -- and boy did they overpay for it. (The studio also has one big hope on the horizon: Their rendition of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass -- oh, and the long-awaited Harold & Kumar sequel, which hits theaters next Spring. Ooh, and I hear Shoot 'Em Up is crazy fun.)

But the news out of New Line that we really care about the most is this: Have Bob Shaye and Peter Jackson been able to kiss and make up? And if so, does that mean Mr. Jackson will be invited back to helm The Hobbit? Well it sure looks like Mr. Shaye is singing a new tune these days: "Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit." Hmph, that sounds a whole lot different from "(Jackson) will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working for the company" -- which is what he said in January.

All things considered, I find myself pulling for New Line. This is a company that was built on the back of a rather cool horror franchise, and while their lame flicks definitely outnumber their quality efforts -- the studio does manage to hit a solid homer every once in a while. Maybe not financially, but I'm just interested in the movies. Plus it'd take a whole lot of awful movies to cancel out the awesomeness of the Rings franchise. Say what you will about New Line, but we wouldn't even have that trilogy if it wasn't for the studio's risk-taking ways. Plus they gave Paul Thomas Anderson free reign to make his masterpiece, so if that doesn't earn them some credit, nothing will. (I know it was a long time ago, but it's just that great a flick.)

I tried to read The Hobbit when I was a kid, but I gave up when I realized I was 100 pages in and still reading about a tea party. I know I'll ruffle some capes out there, but I never understood the appeal. I'm in the minority though, and the little story is stirring up all kinds of excitement in Hollywood. Peter Jackson was expected to direct the film version, but a public battle with Bob Shaye and New Line killed that. After much speculation, an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly confirms that none other than Sam Raimi is now "seriously interested" in directing the adaptation. On the short list of directors that make geeks (and I mean that term affectionately) universally happy, Jackson and Raimi are probably at the top, so this should surely please hardcore Hobbit-heads.

Raimi, who apparently didn't see King Kong, tells EW: "Peter Jackson might be the best filmmaker on the planet right now. But, um, I don't know what's going to happen next for me right now. First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye's films. If Peter didn't want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it -- and they were both okay with me picking up the reigns -- that would be great. I love the book. It's maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others." So, there it is. Raimi is being very respectful here, and he's using a lot of "ifs," but I can only imagine New Line would be delighted to have Raimi behind the wheel. The only drawback is what this could mean for Spider-Man 4.

There's no better way to describe the Jackson/New Line brouhaha than to use the words of Bob Shaye himself. When talking about the relationship between himself and his co-chairman, Michael Lynne, he's said: "I'm emotion. He's reason." Emotion is good and all, but lately it's been stirring up controversy since Peter Jackson sued New Line for not fulfilling their contractual obligations to him from the Lord of the Rings. You might remember Shaye's response to the lawsuit, which fell just short of a flailing, kicking tantrum.

Shaye has told Sci-Fi Wire: "I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore. He wants to have another $100 million or $50 million, whatever he's suing us for. He doesn't want to sit down and talk about it. He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars." The New York Times followed up by asking him about these remarks. Unsurprisingly, Shaye admits that it was "in a moment of emotion" -- but not one that he regrets. All Shaye regrets is "losing a friend" in Jackson. He could be in the right, or it could be Jackson, but only the latter has been sounding sensible in the media.

Now it seems that he won't specifically say that he's against working with Jackson again. Perhaps Greg Wright was correct with his musings that Shaye could not defeat the power of this particular director. Instead, Shaye is now saying that he refuses to work with difficult directors (the names of which he won't divulge). It sounds like this is the first step to New Line re-opening their arms to Jackson, or at least to giving Shaye some meds to keep his emotions in check.