SUBMITTED BY Toad
February 2, 2002 — Variety reports that the WB has brought out "Lord of the Rings" The Fellowship of the Ring" for $75M+ and its two forthcoming sequels in a 10-year shared window with Turner Broadcasting's TBS and TNT, but who will air the epic first?
The total license fee for all three could end up at $160 million or more, depending on the box-office performance of the sequels.
One of the issues still being discussed between the WB and Turner was which network would get the first play of "Fellowship" when the movie becomes available in the fourth quarter of 2004.
One scenario would play off the 11.14-million adults 18 to 49 who watched "The Mummy" when TNT played it four times during the weekend of Jan. 4-6. For the network premiere of "Fellowship," TNT and the WB could alternate plays of the movie over a three-day weekend, feeding off a massive promotional campaign that would list the runs on each network.
Before "Fellowship" winds up on to TNT and the WB, John Malone's Starz network -- which has a theatrical-output deal with New Line -- chalks up its exclusive 18-month pay-TV window. That window begins about a year after the movie's debut in the theaters.
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