Latest on the new Tolkien movie...
 

http://www.narniafans.com/?id=1109. Too much to hope for a serious biopic of course.....

Another brilliant idea wasted
 

Metaphorically speaking, Tolkien, Lewis and Williams had all been into strange lands peopled with outlandish beings. However, as usual in films, the suggestion is that it didn't take years of intensive study and deep thought to travel there. Taken too far, a metaphor is merely a childish over-simplification.

[EDIT: This paragraph made no sense. I meant to point out that all of them, Tolkien in particular, had travelled among the languages, folklore and mythology of Europe; but that this had been by means of intensive study and hard graft at inter alia Norse grammar and Welsh vocabulary, not some magic map.]

Taking the story further, Tolkien was a member of the same Oxford college as William Morris, who also produced an impressive body of literature with roots in Norse philology. Any such map could very easily pass through that environment into the hands of a young Tolkien, but not so Lewis and Williams. London is a bizarre meeting place for them, particularly during the First War, and seems justifiable only because it's the one British city guaranteed to be recognised worldwide. In short, whilst I don't object to meta-fiction, I like those parts of it set in reality to agree with established fact.

More to the point, why does everything always have to be about young versions of famous people? What's wrong with the Inklings having genuine adventures in fantasy realms? Since they were middle-aged academics, that would be hilarious, and it's even been done before: by none other than Tolkien and Lewis themselves (The Notion Club Papers and Out of the Silent Planet respectively).

I might be wrong, and this might turn out to be a very entertaining film, but I expect it will be another round of missed opportunities and Hollywood cliches.

Well, there is the graphic novel 'Heaven's War', which has T, L & W taking on Aleister Crowley at Rennes le Chateau. It takes place in 1938, so the trio are middle-aged. Mad as a bucket of frogs.

I don't think Tolkien's real life would make a terribly exciting or profitable film anyway, though an unfussy TV drama might work, if done subtly by the BBC or someone like that. Tolkien was known for his pranks, but he wasn't really Johnny Knoxville or Steve-O and stealing a bus wouldn't be so thrilling to today's audiences. ;)

But I'm also seriously wary of this film idea too. I think it will give the wrong impression to people who are never going to read Tolkien's Bio, and many people rely on films to tell them stories they cannot be bothered reading. However, if it is very silly and obviously not true, then I might approve more! ;)