Unless you read up on his life, you will only likely know J.R.R. Tolkien as the man who created Middle-Earth in The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. His life outside the books will be explored in a new biopic called, shockingly, Tolkien, and Nicholas Hoult is in early talks to take the titular role.
Dome Karukoski is on board to direct, working from David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford's script. As the potential casting of Hoult might suggest, it'll catch up with Tolkien in his younger days, an orphaned author who finds friendship, love, and artistic inspiration from a group of likeminded friends. But then comes World War I, which threatens to tear them apart. These formative experiences would go on to fuel his work in the fantasy world.
Fox Searchlight is backing the new drama, which is still bubbling away in development but appears to be taking big strides towards shooting.
Hoult has a few films on the way, including another semi-biopic, Rebel In The Rye (he plays J.D. Salinger), The Current War and The Favourite. He'll also be back as Beast for X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which is now shooting.