THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
© 2001 New Line

Related Links

0

Discontent Within Tolkien Family

Excitement may be increasing in advance of the release of New Line's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, but don't expect to seeing endorsements from at least one prominent member of the Tolkien family.

According to the UK's The Independent newspaper, the Tolkien family is divided over the upcoming film version of the claasic book series.

In particular, the paper reports that 77-year old Christopher Tolkien (who edited his father's final work, THE SILMARILLION) is not supporting the coming films while his son, 42-year old Simon Tolkien is. The falling out has resulted in Simon no longer being excluded from family business matters due to his support for the films.

More pointedly, because of Simon's positive take on the coming New Line effort, his father has not spoken to him for three years. While talking to the paper, Simon revealed, "My father has refused to have anything to do with me or my son, who is 11, for three years, and he has rejected all requests to have a meeting. As long ago as 1999, it was my view that we should take a much more positive line on the film and that was overruled by my father. Following that, I was excluded from the board of the Tolkien company,"