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Tolkien thread
- Thread starter CaptainWacky
- Start date
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
I just [re?]listened to the clip in the first post. Tolkien's reading of Entspeak is way different than the way I interpreted it when I read it out loud. I guess in the bit where they're marching to war it could be faster paced than when Treebeard is talking to the Merry and Pippin.
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
Not including Eowyn is a huge flex.
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
Yes, this is somehow a real thing: https://deadline.com/2026/03/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-1236764923/
Right, several things. I KNOW Colbert is a big fan (especially of Tom Bombadil), very knowledgeable of Tolkien and will show huge respect to the source material. That's all good. But he's never written a movie before (or anything beyond comedy) and there are probably thousands of Tolkein scholars who are just as knowledgeable as him (just go on the TolkienFans subreddit) and, FRANKLY, I probably know as much about Tolkien as he does (a lot!) So him (co-)writing the movie feels like the screenwriting equivalent of stunt casting: like they want to say "see, we've hired someone who respects Tolkein to write this cash grab!" and yeah, I'd rather him than a lot of others, but there are probably Tolien scholars out there would be even better picks.
I ASSUME the plan is to get Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Charlie From Lost back to play the older versions of Sam, Pippin and Merry, then have young actors play them and Frodo in flashbacks. Not sure how you get a whole 3 hour (let's face it, it will be) movie out of that, or what the Elanor stuff is (she finds out that her dad encountered Barrow wights? Why would that be a big secret?) I guess they'll have the wights rise again in the present day and Tom will return to team up with the remaining hobbits to fight them? It's going to feel a bit slight, I fear!
Also a shame that they've already been beaten to having Tom Bombadil on screen by The Rings of Power and that many of his book lines were already used in that show.
Anyway, this could possibly never get made, who gives a fuck.
Right, several things. I KNOW Colbert is a big fan (especially of Tom Bombadil), very knowledgeable of Tolkien and will show huge respect to the source material. That's all good. But he's never written a movie before (or anything beyond comedy) and there are probably thousands of Tolkein scholars who are just as knowledgeable as him (just go on the TolkienFans subreddit) and, FRANKLY, I probably know as much about Tolkien as he does (a lot!) So him (co-)writing the movie feels like the screenwriting equivalent of stunt casting: like they want to say "see, we've hired someone who respects Tolkein to write this cash grab!" and yeah, I'd rather him than a lot of others, but there are probably Tolien scholars out there would be even better picks.
I ASSUME the plan is to get Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Charlie From Lost back to play the older versions of Sam, Pippin and Merry, then have young actors play them and Frodo in flashbacks. Not sure how you get a whole 3 hour (let's face it, it will be) movie out of that, or what the Elanor stuff is (she finds out that her dad encountered Barrow wights? Why would that be a big secret?) I guess they'll have the wights rise again in the present day and Tom will return to team up with the remaining hobbits to fight them? It's going to feel a bit slight, I fear!
Also a shame that they've already been beaten to having Tom Bombadil on screen by The Rings of Power and that many of his book lines were already used in that show.
Anyway, this could possibly never get made, who gives a fuck.
I don’t really mind Colbert being involved to the point I don't really care about this in the first place. His love for Tolkien is genuine and he plainly knows the material. But I basically agree with you. It still feels a bit like prestige-by-association.
Jackson is mates with him and has always preferred working with people he knows well, so maybe that’s part of it. Still, it’s hard not to look at this and smell corporate calculation.
The original trilogy is so revered because it was a careful, loving adaptation. Yes, Jackson changed plenty, and people are still arguing over what should or shouldn’t have been cut or rejigged, but the general feeling is that those changes were made in service of translating Tolkien into film. That’s very different from taking a property and endlessly expanding it.
That’s the problem with Tolkien. Middle-earth is vast, but it doesn’t naturally invite this kind of franchise sprawl. Rings of Power has plenty of problems of its own, but one of the biggest is that there just isn’t much appetite for invented tangents in this world. It’s the same reason I have basically no interest in The Hunt for Gollum.
And this new one is in a weird middle ground. It’s not quite full fanfic expansion, technically, because it’s supposedly drawing on early Fellowship material Jackson skipped. But let’s be serious: how are they going to eke out a whole feature film from that without padding it to death or bolting on a load of extra plot that proves the point anyway? Maybe that's the Colbert addition reasoning. They can wave at him and Jackson and claim they are deserved torchbearers or something.
The whole thing still reeks of a studio staring at a property that made billions and asking how to squeeze a few more out of it.
Jackson is mates with him and has always preferred working with people he knows well, so maybe that’s part of it. Still, it’s hard not to look at this and smell corporate calculation.
The original trilogy is so revered because it was a careful, loving adaptation. Yes, Jackson changed plenty, and people are still arguing over what should or shouldn’t have been cut or rejigged, but the general feeling is that those changes were made in service of translating Tolkien into film. That’s very different from taking a property and endlessly expanding it.
That’s the problem with Tolkien. Middle-earth is vast, but it doesn’t naturally invite this kind of franchise sprawl. Rings of Power has plenty of problems of its own, but one of the biggest is that there just isn’t much appetite for invented tangents in this world. It’s the same reason I have basically no interest in The Hunt for Gollum.
And this new one is in a weird middle ground. It’s not quite full fanfic expansion, technically, because it’s supposedly drawing on early Fellowship material Jackson skipped. But let’s be serious: how are they going to eke out a whole feature film from that without padding it to death or bolting on a load of extra plot that proves the point anyway? Maybe that's the Colbert addition reasoning. They can wave at him and Jackson and claim they are deserved torchbearers or something.
The whole thing still reeks of a studio staring at a property that made billions and asking how to squeeze a few more out of it.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
1) Now...Y'know how Lucas grabbed the cash with the 20th anniversary Special Editions? Not going into the details of that, but I wouldn't mind that for LotR. I think they've already stuck in a bunch since the theatrical releases and it's kind of problematic that the actors have aged so much (died? I dunno)--even with modern FX, but it would be nice to stick in things like Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire and making Faramir a more interesting character, etc.
2) As you talk above, I can't help but think of the Dune universe, even when Frank Herbert was alive and writing the books. The first book is so complete and thought out and with every new book he has to change things and compromise to keep the story going. A bit like the Ender books too. The second one isn't as good as the first, the third isn't as good as the second, etc, etc. Just read the first one and pretend that's it. Or "Jaws", "Rocky," And "First Blood." "Robocop." I'd have to see "Predator 2" again. That wasn't terrible, IIRC. It might be a valid sequel.
2) As you talk above, I can't help but think of the Dune universe, even when Frank Herbert was alive and writing the books. The first book is so complete and thought out and with every new book he has to change things and compromise to keep the story going. A bit like the Ender books too. The second one isn't as good as the first, the third isn't as good as the second, etc, etc. Just read the first one and pretend that's it. Or "Jaws", "Rocky," And "First Blood." "Robocop." I'd have to see "Predator 2" again. That wasn't terrible, IIRC. It might be a valid sequel.