'Rings' cast revolt over pay offer

The stars of The Lord of the Rings were so upset at what they considered paltry bonus offers they threatened to take their demand for more money to the head of Time Warner.

In the lead-up to the launch of the third and final film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, Newsweek has reported that the past year was "a volatile one for relations between the cast and studio".

The row was resolved after one actor "everyone" trusted struck a deal with New Line studio.

The magazine reported that many of the actors were hired for "a song" to perform in the trilogy, because they were unknowns.

These included Orlando Bloom, now one of Hollywood's hottest actors.

Director Peter Jackson, said by Newsweek to be a "merciless negotiator", would only say it was an issue between cast and studio.

Newsweek understood that this year, New Line offered some cast members an initial round of bonuses for The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy.

But although the film was a bigger hit than the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, the bonuses were reportedly "smaller, and left far more cast members out in the cold".

Newsweek said the actors reported that returning to New Zealand each year for re-shoots, press junkets and premieres was taking up valuable time when they could be getting work elsewhere.

New Line executive vice-president Mark Ordesky said the actors made "a vigorous appeal" to the studio, saying it was unrealistic to expect the cast to carry out promotional work leading up to the release of The Return of the King without more financial assistance.

The actors wanted assurances they would be given more bonus payments in the future and successfully struck a deal with New Line for both The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

The deal paid cast members above and beyond their profit-participation deals and even rewarded actors with no deal in place.

It was understood that when the studio earlier declined to make promises, 18 actors were planning to take the dispute to Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons.

But they decided that it would create "mutually assured destruction" between the cast and studio, and took their case to New Line's leadership.

The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers made a combined $650 million in the US alone.

Liv Tyler, who plays Arwen, said that when she was offered the part she had to sit down and think about whether she was willing to work on it for a year and a half.

In reality, she said, the project involved four and a half years.

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings