J.R.R. Tolkien’s family does “not endorse” upcoming biopic
By Dan Selcke
On May 10, Fox Searchlight will release Tolkien into theaters. A biopic about The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien sounds pretty innocent, but there’s a controversy brewing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tolkien’s family said in a statement that they want to “make clear that they did not approve of, authorize or participate in the making” of the film. “They do not endorse it or its content in any way.”
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A representative for the family confirmed that they hadn’t actually seen the movie yet, but it’s probably best to get out ahead of these things. If you’re Fox, this isn’t the kind of press you want a few weeks out from your debut, but the movie itself looks okay. It stars Nicolas Hoult as Tolkien and Lily Collins as Edith Bratt, his wife of over 50 years. It’ll explore Tolkien’s early days with his friends at Oxford and his time fighting in World War I, all of which inspired the stories set in Middle-earth. Check out the trailer:
J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1971, and his family has controlled the rights to his work ever since. They’ve been approached about biopics before have never given approval. In 2017, Tolkien’s son Christopher stepped down as director of the Tolkien estate. Not long after that, the estate sold the rights to make a Lord of the Rings TV show to Amazon for $250 million. Maybe the Tolkien family would have been okay with a biopic if Fox Searchlight had offered to pay more?
Next. Build your own Small Council!. dark
Or not. I don’t know the Tolkien family. But they probably won’t be among the first in the theater.
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h/t TheOneRing.net