While many would probably expected the family of J.R.R. Tolkien to be proud that his work has become immortalised on the big screen, it appears that that is not the case. The writers son, Christopher Tolkien has opened up about the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies, saying that they have damaged what the books meant to him.
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit
Tolkien told Le Monde (Via World Crunch), “I could write a book on the idiotic requests I have received. Normally, the executors of the estate want to promote a work as much as they can. But we are just the opposite. We want to put the spotlight on that which is not Lord of the Rings. They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people aged 15 to 25. And it seems that The Hobbit will be the same kind of film.”
He added, “Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed into the absurdity of our time. The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.”
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings trilogy managed to make almost $3bn at the box office worldwide, while The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has already made $825m worldwide so far. That takes the total to $3.73bn so far, with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again still to be released.
The Hobbit television special
