Two films are coming our way based on the life of J.R.R. Tolkien

July 16th 2014, 1:25pm

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

If three Hobbit movies weren’t enough to give you that Tolkien fix you’ve been craving, then perhaps a few cinematic ventures on the man himself will curb that appetite. David Gleeson is currently writing a Tolkien script for Fox Searchlight, while on the other side of the pond, Attractive Pictures is developing a TOLKIEN & LEWIS picture to be helmed by Simon West.

The latter picture’s synopsis, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

The story centers on Tolkien’s relationship with his University of Oxford colleague C.S. Lewis, whom Tolkien, a devout Catholic, converted to Christianity. The formerly agnostic Lewis’ newfound faith infused his most popular books, including The Chronicles of Narnia series, while Lewis in turn encouraged Tolkien to finish his The Lord of the Rings volumes, which were decades in the making. Much of the movie takes place at the beginning of World War II, when Tolkien, a veteran of World War I, is haunted by memories of his fallen friends. Meanwhile, Lewis’ growing fame as an untrained theologian strains his relationship with Tolkien and his university job.

I’ve always found the relationship between Tokien and Lewis fascinating, but now that the director of THE EXPENDABLES 2 and CON-AIR is directing it . . . I have no words. All I know is that I must see this movie and I hope it has one-liners. All of the one-liners. All this Tolkien news is exciting! I love it when studios play off of each other in a cinematic steel-cage match to take home the title. DANTE’S PEAK and VOLCANO. DEEP IMPACT and ARMAGEDDON. OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and WHITE HOUSE DOWN. Now . . . Tolkien. Who would’ve thought?

The latest of Tolkien’s works (kinda), THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES, will be in theaters December 17, 2014.