Tolkien biopic planned

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the movies forum, but I'll leave it here at least for now.

This is very interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mo ... z2lKE1cqRX

[Passdagas the Brown]

Oh, I hope, hope, hope this turns out well. If so, it could revive critical interest in Tolkien even moreso than the LOTR and Hobbit films.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Could be very good.


Or very bad.

[Passdagas the Brown]

This one could go either way. Though my guess is that whatever happens, they will almost certainly play up the influence of WWI on Tolkien's work. It will likely not pass Tolkien's "anti-allegory" test, but it may strengthen Shippey's case for Tolkien as a 20th century author, which could blunt the criticisms of literary critics who contend that he was (and is) irrelevant to the human condition.

But if the filmmakers botch it, the effect could be the opposite.

Wonder what the Tolkien Estate thinks...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I wonder if they would bring someone like John Garth in as a consultant.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Know anything about the scriptwriter, David Gleeson?

He's described as a "Tolkien superfan..."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And a "scholar of sorts about the Middle-earth creator." That does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. (But no, I don't know anything about him.) All I can find from googling is that he is a third generation Irish filmmaker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gleeson

[Smaug's voice]

Wonder what the Tolkien Estate thinks...

I cannot say for sure. But I am a member of the Tolkien Society Open group on facebook where this was brought to attention about a month ago.

Most of them are very interested but are also skeptical at the same time, fearing they would "hollywood-ize" the details about Tolkien's life adding things completely unassociated to Tolkien.

It's too early to say anything, but if this turns out good it'd be pretty awesome.

[Primula Baggins]

I'm a little worried about a Tolkien "scholar" that none of you guys have ever heard of.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I brought it up on the Mythopoeic Society mail list, and the reaction so far has been uniformly negative. But I take that with somewhat of a grain of salt, as most of those people make PtB seem like a raging PJ fanboy.

[Siberian]

Unless they end the movie shortly after his return to England after WWI, it's not going to be interesting to a general audience. Even his biographers (and Shippey) admit there're no more exciting events in his life afterwards, only work, family and writing.

I think a miniseries about Tolkien (and perhaps other Inklings) with emphasis on creative process could be more interesting, if somewhat niche.

[Dave_LF]

[note: this was the first post in the new thread that was combined with the original thread in the other forum, which is why Dave doesn't sound like he knows about the previous posts - VtF]

Sounds like Fox Searchlight is planning to make a film about the life of JRR Tolkien:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2013/11/new-tol ... works.html

The script is being written by Irish screenwriter and director David Gleeson, whose credits include Cowboys & Angels and The Front Line. Gleeson, described by the Los Angeles Times as a "Tolkien superfan and scholar of sorts about the Middle-Earth creator," is expected to produce a script that particularly focuses on Tolkien's experiences in the First World War and his subsequent years teaching at Pembroke College, during which time he wrote The Hobbit and much of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

That's about all the information that's available for now. The road does go ever on!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There is already a thread about this (from a couple of weeks ago) in the Shibboleth forum (although I debated which forum to put it in).

viewtopic.php?t=3489

Maybe I'll try to combine them and move it in here.

[Dave_LF]

I knew it! I seemed pretty strange I hadn't seen anything about it here yet. Obviously I've been monitoring this forum more closely than that one.

[sauronsfinger]

I wonder if they will use the devise in the film of bringing to life on the screen what JRRT is writing or describing so that we get kind of a miniature Middle-earth tour as the film develops? This would greatly add to the film - not to mention make studio executives very happy as we would get to see characters, setting and events on the screen from potentially all the books. Imagine seeing scenes and events from the SILMARALLION!!!!!!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That would be impossible unless the Estate sold the rights to The Silmarillion. Which of course is not going to happen.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Question, though. If the Silmarillion is referenced in the various Tolkien biographies that have been published (such as Carpenter's) can a filmmaker extrapolate scenes from those references?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not being an Intellectual Property attorney at all, that is probably getting beyond the scope of what I can answer, but I would doubt it. It is an interesting question. For an authorized biography like Carpenter's, there would be one set of issues, and for an unauthorized biography there would be a different set of issues.

For the proposed film, the biography that I would really like to see them use (and hire the author as a consultant) is John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War. With that book, the question would then be regarding the early versions of the mythology. Wow, that could be good.

But I still doubt it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I managed to combine the thread in the Shibboleth with this thread

[sauronsfinger]

The only way I can see this being a viable film is if they dramatize some of the things he is actually writing. Perhaps weave the Beren & Lúthien story in with their own marriage and life or something along those lines. Show him writing the Gondolin siege and flashes of his experience in the Great War... that sort of thing.

I suspect a producer with an eye on box office would want that.