''Clash of the Empires'' (also known as ''Lord of the Elves'') is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

/ adventure film produced by

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and sc ...

and directed by Joseph Lawson. It stars

Christopher Judge Douglas Christopher Judge (born October 13, 1964) is an American actor best known for playing Teal'c in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' and Kratos in the 2018 video game ''God of War'' and its ...

Bai Ling Bai Ling (, born October 10, 1966) is a Chinese-American actress known for her work in the films '' The Crow'', ''Nixon'', ''Red Corner'', '' Crank: High Voltage'', ''Dumplings'', ''Wild Wild West'', ''Anna and the King'', ''Southland Tales'', an ...

and Sun Korng. It was originally titled ''Age of the Hobbits'' and set for release

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on December 11, 2012. In the tradition of The Asylum's catalog, the film is a

mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to max ...

of the 2012 film '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey''. This led to a lawsuit against The Asylum for trademark infringement. The lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order preventing The Asylum from releasing the film on its scheduled release date.

Plot

The film is about a prehistoric struggle between a community of

Homo floresiensis ''Homo floresiensis'' also known as "Flores Man"; nicknamed "Hobbit") is an extinct species of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago. The remains of an in ...

(known as "hobbits") and their brutal oppressors,

Java Man Java Man (''Homo erectus erectus'', formerly also ''Anthropopithecus erectus'', ''Pithecanthropus erectus'') is an early human fossil discovered in 1891 and 1892 on the island of Java (Dutch East Indies, now part of Indonesia). Estimated to be b ...

("Java Men"). The hobbits ally with early humans against the Javas. According to The Asylum, "In an ancient age, the small, peace-loving hobbits are enslaved by the Java Men, a race of flesh-eating dragon-riders. The young hobbit Goben must join forces with their neighbor giants, the humans, to free his people and vanquish their enemies."

Cast

as Amthar *

as Laylan *Sun Korng as Goben *Kyle Morris as Goben (voice) * Jon Kondelik as Gelling (voice) *Joseph J. Lawson as Koto (voice) *Kelly P. Lawson as the Java Witch Queen (voice)

Warner Bros. lawsuit

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, producers of ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'' film series, sent a

cease-and-desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...

letter to The Asylum on August 31, 2012. The Asylum responded by altering some of the promotional material for their film, but they refused to take the word "hobbit" out of the film's title. In November 2012, Warner Bros.,

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and ''The Hobbit'' producer

Saul Zaentz Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Zaentz's film p ...

commenced legal action against The Asylum for ''Age of the Hobbits'', claiming that they were "free-riding" on the worldwide promotional campaign for Peter Jackson's forthcoming films. The Asylum claimed its film is legally sound because its hobbits are not based on the

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

creations. The Asylum argued that "Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as 'hobbits' in the scientific community." A lawsuit by Warner Bros. resulted in a temporary restraining order preventing The Asylum from releasing the film on its scheduled release date of December 11. The federal judge presiding over the case found that the film violated the "hobbit" trademark and was likely to cause confusion among consumers. As a result, ''Age of the Hobbits'' became the first Asylum film to be blocked from release. A hearing was also scheduled for January 28, 2013 to decide whether the restraining order should become a preliminary injunction.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2456594 The Asylum films 2013 films 2010s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films 2013 independent films Mockbuster films Films set in prehistory Films shot in Cambodia Films directed by Joseph Lawson Prehistoric people in popular culture Films set in Indonesia 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films with screenplays by Eric Forsberg