Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) readies to face Sauron’s forces of evil in New Line Cinema’s epic adventure, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

been paid $168 million by the company behind Peter Jackson's

Oscar-winning trilogy--despite never working on any of the hit movies.

Saul Zaentz, 84, secured the rights to the J.R.R. Tolkien books in 1976, and

production company New Line made the big money payout after Jackson's trilogy

made a staggering $2.9 billion.

Zaentz sued New Line for a further $20 million after he said

they based his share of royalties from foreign distributors on net income

rather then from the gross profits.

New Line is still facing a legal challenge from the trilogy's Oscar-winning

director Peter Jackson, who says the company withheld his share of profits from

the first film.

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