The impact LORD OF THE RINGS has had on pop culture can't be understated. Even before the wildly successful Peter Jackson films, there was the hippie movement in the '60s adopting the phrase "Frodo Lives!", the world of Middle Earth influencing the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (which in turn influenced modern video games, like SKYRIM and FINAL FANTASY), and even inspiring other fantasy stories like the deconstructionist A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series by George R.R. Martin.
So it's no surprise J.R.R. Tolkien – the author of LORD OF THE RINGS – is getting a a biopic, but rather that it has taken this long to do so.
The film is to be called MIDDLE EARTH from Black List writer Angus Fletcher, and directed by James Strong (DOWNTON ABBEY). Here's the synopsis, according to Deadline:
Story follows Tolkien’s early life and love affair with Edith Bratt, whom he later married. The couple lived happily in Oxford, surrounded by friends, but when war broke out in 1914 Tolkien embarked on four years of battle and hardship, an experience that influenced his Middle Earth stories.
If it wasn't already obvious, I f*cking love LORD OF THE RINGS. I own all the books, all the extended cuts of the DVDs (and watched every commentary, featurette, and appendix), and even proposed with the ring from LORD OF THE RINGS (she said no). Point is, I'm excited as hell about this project (the fact the script came from the Black List is already a good sign), so fingers crossed it's actually good.
No release date set yet, but we should be getting more news soon as the project develops.
So, fellow JoBlo-ers, who would you all cast as a young Tolkien?
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