A Biopic On Hobbit Author J.R.R. Tolkien Is Officially In The Works

While we anxiously await the second installment to Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, a new report says Fox Searchlight is putting a film into production which will focus on the famous author who started us down this path long ago – J.R.R. Tolkien.

The LA Times were the ones to break the news:

“Tolkien,” as the project is tentatively called, will examine the author’s life, particularly his formative years at Pembroke College and as a soldier in World War I, and how it influenced him and his work, according to a person familiar with the project who was not authorized to talk about it publicly.

David Gleeson, writer and director of Cowboys & Angels, has been tasked with writing the script, which is fortuitous considering the LA Times calls him “a Tolkien superfan and scholar of sorts about the Middle-earth creator.”

Many of you may be wondering just how close to the truth this film will come and whether or not it’s authorized by the Tolkien estate. LA Times has this to offer on that front:

There’s been no definitive biopic of Tolkien, though several stalled-in-development attempts in recent years, including “Mirkwood,” a fantastical look at his work as a codebreaker during WWII. That project ran into obstacles from the very private Tolkien estate (it’s unknown to what extent they will be cooperating on Gleeson’s movie).

So basically, who knows? I’m gonna go ahead and cast this one with David Bradley (at least for Tolkien’s later years). Because why not?

(via /Film, image by 89ravenclaw)

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