New J.R.R Tolkien Biopic

Even with the wonderful films of Peter Jackson which are based upon Tolkien’s work, sometimes the visuals and glitz of film can overshadow the origins of those stories. We must remember who created these important works, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, among his others works. A new biopic is being planned to tell Tolkien’s life story. Tolkien, as the project is tentatively called, will examine the author’s life, particularly his years at Pembroke College and as a soldier in World War I, and how it influenced him and his work. David Gleeson, a Tolkien super-fan and also a Tolkien scholar of sorts is currently working on the script. The movie will be produced by Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment (The Heat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and set up at Fox Searchlight.
Gleeson, an indie screenwriter and director born in Ireland will examine Tolkien’s life story and how these experiences led to and shaped his work. There’s been no definitive biopic of Tolkien but there were several attempts in recent years that stalled, including Mirkwood, a look at his work as a codebreaker during WWII. That project ran into obstacles from the Tolkien estate. It’s unknown to what extent they will be cooperating on Gleeson’s film, if at all.
A good quality biopic about this literary giant and creative genius would be greatly appreciated by many fans and it would give others not familiar with the greatness of the books a look at the man behind the work. For the full article you can read it at The Los Angeles Times.