J.R.R. Tolkien film biopic in the pipeline (22.11.13 by Pieter Collier) - Comments

J.R.R. Tolkien biopic in the making

J.R.R. Tolkien, the mastermind behind the epic Middle-earth stories like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, will become the subject of a feature film. His life story will be adapted to the big screen under the project tentatively titled "Tolkien". 

According to LA Times, the upcoming biopic "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."  BBC, adds that the movie "will also cover his friendship with fellow author CS Lewis, with whom he studied at university and formed the writing group known as The Inklings" and mentions "aside from his active role in WW1, Tolkien also acted as a code breaker during WW2.

Tolkien scholar and superfan, David Gleeson (Cowboys & Angels), is working on the script. I suppose he is reading up The Tolkien Companion & Guide, Tolkien's letters and biographies and hopefully brings in some of the bigger scholars and experts to get this into a good movie! Don't hesitate to contact me... if done right, count me in!

Peter Chernin's Chernin Entertainment (The Heat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will produce the movie, that is set up at Fox Searchlight. Fox Searchlight, which was behind last year's Hitchcock film, is now developing a biopic about The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. And guess while many will scream I will enjoy every tiny bit of it. IF the project get greenlit by the authors Estate and IF the right scholars are on board to keep the script writer on course!

There have been previous attempts to make a biopic about Tolkien, but they fell apart. "Mirkwood: A Novel About JRR Tolkien by Steve Hillard", a fantastical look at his work as a codebreaker during the Great War, was disapproved by the late writer's estate. It's unclear if this new project has been greenlit by the estate or not. There have been documentaries about the auhor J.R.R. Tolkien and he even was part of a documentary about J.R.R. Tolkien.

About David Gleeson

Gleeson is third generation cinema. His grandfather opened up a theater in the early forties and his father carried on in the same business, opening up several more screens across the south west of Ireland. He began his career at the age of nineteen writing and directing theater in Limerick City.

A few years later he entered the North Sea oil industry where he worked to finance a short film. In the mid nineties Gleeson moved to New York City where he met his producing partner and future wife, Nathalie Lichtenthaler. While in New York they formed "Wide Eye Films" and produced their first short film together "Feels Like Home". Gleeson wrote and directed one other short film, "Hunted" prior to writing and directing his feature debut, Cowboys & Angels.

Cowboys & Angels, a youth comedy/drama set in his native Limerick, was released in cinemas across Ireland by Buena Vista Int. The film has since been released worldwide and has won eight international film awards including Best Screenplay at Newport Beach (U.S.) and two Gold Medal Awards at Giffoni (Italy).

His most recent film is The Front Line, released in 2006. Winner of Best Film at The Salerno Film Festival in Italy and the Bernhard Wicki Preis at Emden in Germany.

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