In response, The Asylum contended that Age of the Hobbits has nothing to do with the world of J.R.R. Tolkien but is, in fact, an action-adventure film about the pre-human hominid species homo floresiensis, which has been nicknamed “hobbits” in scientific literature—an argument that, as he wrote in his ruling, the judge found “disingenuous.”

Companies like the Asylum and Renegade Animation... argue that they're simply offering the public more of what it already wants...

"There's all this hoopla around a specific subject — whether it's Battleship or whatever — and we turn around and capitalize on that," says David Garber, who handles worldwide sales for the Asylum. And Bales insists their fans know what they're getting when they pick up a copy of Pirates of Treasure Island instead of Pirates of the Caribbean or I Am Omega instead of I Am Legend. "Our audience is people who want something they don't have to think too hard about, something they can watch, enjoy, and then forget about. If there's confusion, it's among old people and stupid people."