Thread by @europeroyalsfan

In 1969 Tolkien sold the film rights of The Hobbit/LotR & was given a choice of ART (creative control) or CASH (more of it.) He chose CASH. After ~12 film/TV adaptations, the family obviously regretted this decision. So in 2017, the Tolkien Estate, which represents the family, /1

made a deal with Amazon for both LOTSA CASH and CREATIVE CONTROL. Since Christopher Tolkien (who died in 2020) famously disliked the PJ films, they did not want PJ involved. Simon Tolkien is now working with #ROP showrunners to produce an adaptation that is acceptable to them. /2

Tolkien's quotes about adaptations are often taken out of context. He was "personally averse to dramatizations" but still authorized a BBC radio play (which he disliked) and a children's musical play (which he liked when it used his words and disliked when it didn't), and even /3

after all of that, he STILL sold the film/stage/merchandising rights. So he was fine with people making adaptations, but he was never going to LIKE them. His "canons of narrative" rant in Letter 210 was SPECIFICALLY about the script by amateur screenwriter Zimmerman, which was /4

disliked by everyone who saw it (too many fights, time compression, orcs have beaks/feathers, no temptation of Galadriel, Sam abandons Frodo to Shelob) and Tolkien was so blind with rage that some of his corrections were themselves incorrect (Galadriel=/=queen, Balrog=mute) /5

You'll notice that the first two criticisms were done anyway by PJ & (the first, maybe) #RingsofPower but thankfully PJ spared us the others, so there is CLEARLY a line that each good adaptation will not cross - but we will only know it once we have watched it in its entirety. /6

One thing we can be fairly sure of is that both JRRT & Christopher Tolkien would probably hate it, because they have historically hated ALL previous adaptations, so therefore trying to please these two men (who are in any case not around to see it) is a pointless venture. /7

So please stop quoting Tolkien out of context and presuming to know what he would have thought about any particular aspect of THIS adaptation, and let us wait until we have watched #TheRingsOfPower so that we may judge it on its own merits. #LOTRROP /8