The family and estate of JRR Tolkien have fired a broadside against the forthcoming film starring Nicholas Hoult as a young version of the author, saying that they “do not endorse it or its content in any way”.
John Garth, author of the biography Tolkien and the Great War, said he felt the estate’s response to the film was “sensible”.
But in 2017 the estate sold rights to a new Lord of the Rings television series to Amazon.
A spokesperson for the estate told the Guardian that the statement was intended to make its position clear, rather than heralding future legal action.