 Thus, Miramax sold the rights for "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" to New Line Cinema in August 1998 for about $12 million, which led "The Lord of the Rings" to be produced as a trilogy.Miramax retained a 5% stake in the films' gross and then gave 2.5% to the Weinsteins.Through Miramax, Harvey founded "Talk" magazine with Tina Brown in 1998 (it shut down in 2002), albeit without the approval of then-Disney chief Michael Eisner, which upset Eisner.