 D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote Garland 's script during 2006 . The crew stopped and resumed preproduction of the film several times . Later that year , 20th Century Fox threatened to pull out of the project , leading Universal to issue an ultimatum to Jackson and Schlessel : either cut their large " first @-@ dollar " deals , or the project was ended . Both refused , and the project stalled . 
