According to Deadline, Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski (The Home of Dark Butterflies) is set to direct Tolkien, a biopic of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author J.R.R. Tolkien.
The project is being produced by Chernin Entertainment for Fox Searchlight, and is based on a script from David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. The film will detail the formative years of the legendary author and the experiences that led him to pen his epic fantasy tales “as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a fellow group of outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the ‘fellowship’ apart.”
Tolkien is the second biopic to be announced in recent months, with James Strong (Broadchurch, Downton Abbey) attached to direct Middle Earth, a project set to explore the relationship between a young Tolkien and his future wife Edith Bratt.
Originally published July 25, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
