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davem · 03-27-2007, 01:12 PM

Of course the movie rights lie with the Estate & there's no reason to believe they will put them up for sale any time for soon. CT has stated that LotR was unsuitable for (visual) dramatisation & there's no reason to believe he feels differently about CoH. Adam Tolkien in a recent interview seemed to be less opposed to the possibility & it seems Adam will take over the CT 'role' when he passes on. So, its possible the rights will become available - & then we'll be back to the whole 'Cash or Kudos' situation.

Not as simple as it seems.... The family may prefer 'Kudos', but they could make a lot of money from selling the movie rights & as the rights are held by the Estate, which is a charity, they could do a lot of good by selling to a big studio & using the money to help good causes.

Of course, if they were prepared to sell the CoH movie rights one assumes they would be prepared to sell the rights to all Tolkien's works.

The whole situation is very unusual these days, where the movie rights are sold along with the book rights as a matter of course. It seems that the very fact that the rights have not been sold yet is a deliberate choice on the part of the Estate - they must have been asked by the publishers (not to mention hassled by studios who would kill to get their hands on the new work).

I agree with Lalaith that the director of Pan's Labyrinth would make a very impressive job. However, I fear that the studios would turn out something along the lines of 300

Hollywood seems more comfortable with presenting (& justifying) extreme violence (Glauring would make it) than 'difficult' themes (as Squatter states a 'hero' could not commit suicide, let alone incest - the 'moral majority' would have apoplexy).

Studio execs will know nothing of the story than that it is a 'new' novel from the guy who wrote LotR & they'll pay whatever for the rights without caring to find out. Once they got the rights they'd immediatley start excising anything that would upset the MM - one only has to look at the way Pullman's HDM has had negative references to 'God' removed. The rights to HDM were bought because the book was popular, the contents are basically irrelevant to the studios because movies cost so much to make that they want as much publicity as possible - buy a popular book to adapt & you've already got a ready audience. Once they're in the cinema you can feed them something safe & simple..

03-27-2007, 01:12 PM	#9
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Of course the movie rights lie with the Estate & there's no reason to believe they will put them up for sale any time for soon. CT has stated that LotR was unsuitable for (visual) dramatisation & there's no reason to believe he feels differently about CoH. Adam Tolkien in a recent interview seemed to be less opposed to the possibility & it seems Adam will take over the CT 'role' when he passes on. So, its possible the rights will become available - & then we'll be back to the whole 'Cash or Kudos' situation. Not as simple as it seems.... The family may prefer 'Kudos', but they could make a lot of money from selling the movie rights & as the rights are held by the Estate, which is a charity, they could do a lot of good by selling to a big studio & using the money to help good causes. Of course, if they were prepared to sell the CoH movie rights one assumes they would be prepared to sell the rights to all Tolkien's works. The whole situation is very unusual these days, where the movie rights are sold along with the book rights as a matter of course. It seems that the very fact that the rights have not been sold yet is a deliberate choice on the part of the Estate - they must have been asked by the publishers (not to mention hassled by studios who would kill to get their hands on the new work). I agree with Lalaith that the director of Pan's Labyrinth would make a very impressive job. However, I fear that the studios would turn out something along the lines of 300 Hollywood seems more comfortable with presenting (& justifying) extreme violence (Glauring would make it) than 'difficult' themes (as Squatter states a 'hero' could not commit suicide, let alone incest - the 'moral majority' would have apoplexy). Studio execs will know nothing of the story than that it is a 'new' novel from the guy who wrote LotR & they'll pay whatever for the rights without caring to find out. Once they got the rights they'd immediatley start excising anything that would upset the MM - one only has to look at the way Pullman's HDM has had negative references to 'God' removed. The rights to HDM were bought because the book was popular, the contents are basically irrelevant to the studios because movies cost so much to make that they want as much publicity as possible - buy a popular book to adapt & you've already got a ready audience. Once they're in the cinema you can feed them something safe & simple.. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."