‘Tolkien’ Movie Gets a Release Date

Fantasy fans rejoice, because the long-awaited J.R.R. Tolkien biopic, aptly titled Tolkien, finally has a release date and it’s not too far away!

According to Deadline, the movie, which will star Nicholas Hoult (The Favourite, Mad Max: Fury Road) in the titular role, is scheduled to be released by Fox Searchlight on May 10, 2019.

“We hear Tolkien, given the author’s mass appeal, will likely not be a platform release, rather potentially a wider one (though not saturated),” Deadline writes.

The film will follow the story of the legendary The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings author and his muse, Edith Bratt, who will be played by Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Okja). The movie is being directed by Dome Karukoski and was written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, who is best known for writing the film Pride.

Deadline reports the film “explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school.” From there, the journey will take Tolkien “into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the ‘fellowship’ apart.” These experiences are what ultimately inspired the author to create his historic novels.

Best known for his high fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien became recognized as the father of the modern genre. A resurgence for Lord of the Rings began in 2001 when Peter Jackson’s popular film franchise started, eventually earning the Best Picture award at the Oscars in 2004 for The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

In addition to LOTR, Tolkien was an author of literary criticism, writing Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, a lecture that was published into a paper in 1936. The Silmarillion, a collection of mythopoeic work, was the author’s “Sketch of the Mythology.” It was edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, and published after J.R.R. died.

In addition to Hoult and Collins, the new movie will also feature Genevieve O’Reilly, who you’ll recognize as Mon Mothma from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Pam Ferris, who you know best as Trunchbull from Matilda.

In 2019, Hoult can also be seen reprising his role as Hank McCoy/Beast in the upcoming X-Men film, Dark Phoenix. You can catch Collins in another biopic this year, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, the Ted Bundy film that will star Zac Efron in the titular role.

Tolkien will be released in theaters on May 10, 2019.