A closer look

As if we needed another reason to loathe Harvey Weinstein, he genuinely tried to compress a three-volume fantasy epic into a single two-hour movie. Miramax initially bought the rights, but Weinstein refused to fund multiple films, ordering Jackson to condense Middle-earth or get fired. Jackson leaked the script to New Line Cinema, who brilliantly asked, 'Aren't there three books?' They greenlit the trilogy, swept the Oscars, and Weinstein missed out on billions.