We’ve heard some very good news this week. There is, in fact, a film about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien coming in the very near future.
Written by Darren Jacobs and Dr. Louis Markos, this is a film that has been planned for many years. It’s a dream project for everyone involved, and they want to make the best movie possible. One that captures the friendship of these two writers in a very real way.
Here’s a description from their Indiegogo campaign page.
Many know that C.S. Lewis wrote THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. Most know J.R.R.Tolkien wrote THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Each of these series have sold more than 100 million copies, translated into dozens of languages and enjoyed the world over in cinema.
What most do not know is that Lewis and Tolkien were close friends. Their unique friendship, one that was turbulent, supportive, joyous and raucous, helped create two of the most iconic stories of the 20th century.
JACK AND TOLLERS is the true story of the friendship of Lewis and Tolkien. It will give you a glimpse into the souls of these incredible Men of Letters. Until now, there has never been a major motion picture depicting their unique friendship. For the global fan base of both authors and indeed the fantasy genre itself, we are excited to
say that the time has come to move forward into production.
The movie is already funded, but they’re running the campaign so that fans like us can be a part of the movie, so let’s get behind it in a big way, and like their page, and share it. Please do us a favor and like their page.
Is this a renamed version of The Lion Awakes?
That’s correct.
I know Jack is Lewis, but how is Tollers Tolkien, I get the “Tol” in both Tollers and Tolkien, but I never heard of Tollers till today. Was that a nickname Tolkien was given like Jack was for Lewis?
Yes it was. In those days slang or nicknames using an “er” or “ers” ending were very common. That’s why at British or Australian) universities even today freshmen or freshwomen are usually referred to as “freshers”.
Will it really be a true story, I mean, showing what a jerk and awful friend Tolkien was to Lewis?
Sources please? Because if I read your comment right, you were likely referring to a single event in their friendship in particular, and not a representation of what their actual friendship was like.
The sources are the books I read recently about Narnia (“Planet Narnia”, by Michael Ward) and Lewis (“CS Lewis: a life”, by Alister McGrath), and many other articles I’ve read over the years.
I am not referring only to Tolkien’s dismissal of the Narnia books, though that alone would be enough to at least call him a lousy friend (you don’t have to LOVE everything a friend does just because you’re friends, but you can at least be less vocal and more supportive about it). Come on, call the Narnia stories a mish-mash of “various mythologies… carelessly and superficially written”?
But it’s also about his criticism about the way Lewis would churn out books easily and quickly, and the way he reacted to Lewis’s wedding to Joy. Ok, he was a Catholic and didn’t think it was right for a divorced woman to marry a second time. But at least be supportive! And be happy that your friend is happy.
The one time I agree with Tolkien is when he’s not happy with Lewis mentioning Númenor in “That Hideous Strenght”. As I understand it, Lewis didn’t ask for permission to use the name, and if that’s the case I think it was wrong of Lewis to do so.
Lewis, on the other hand, was a more kind and generous friend. He even recommended Tolkien for the 1961 Nobel Prize of Literature.
I admit that I have been too harsh, calling Tolkien a jerk and an awful friend. He *did* try to help Lewis secure a position at Oxford, after all, and was very important in Lewis’s way back to Christianity. But, overall, I think Tolkien’s oversensitivity got in the way and eventually caused their friendship to dwindle.
Please read this message carefully June. You need to put down your books for a moment and go along to the webpage http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03jrw5j .
Having looked at this webpage you then need to follow up by watching the documentary concerned. You could try phoning the UK number 03704 101 060 to see about buying a copy of the DVD. The author you mention above Alistair McGrath is actually interviewed by A N Wilson in this documentary.
I actually agree and understand where you are coming from. I did a fair bit of research myself because I had a conference paper to write and involved the two of them. In the beginning, I judged their relationship as non-friendly until people on this site and my own research proved otherwise.
True they both had their ups and downs in their relationship as does everyone else’s, but I guess they are also very different in their individual nature as well as in their writing. Tolkien may not have been all high and mighty about Lewis’s Narnia, while Lewis complained about Tolkien’s stubbornness of not listening to other people’s advice.
It is also true that Lewis produced both the Narnia series and his scifi series faster than Tolkien released The Lord of the Rings, which took twelve years to write. I don’t know too much of this being a dilemma between the two. It is understandable, though.
Very excited for this film! I’ve listened to interviews, liked their Facebook page, and it seems the screenwriters are very passionate and confident in Jack and Tollers. Which of course is always a good thing for a movie, hopefully we get equally passionate filmmaker’s for Silver Chair!