Steve Hillard’s recently-released novel, Mirkwood, is planning a film adaptation, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. Bearing the subtitle “A Novel About J.R.R. Tolkien,” the book is officially described as follows:
“Mirkwood” tells of Tolkien hiding secret documents that the forces of evil will do anything to obtain, and the young orphan girl, Cadence, who discovers them. In the opening pages of Hillard’s novel, world-renowned author and linguist Tolkien lands in New York City on a mysterious errand. He carries with him a collection of ancient documents, many in an unknown language that hint of a heroine, a halfling named Ara, who lived in the same ancient landscape that inspired Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
Fearing that possession of the documents will lead to great harm, Tolkien entrusts them to a simple scissor sharpener named Jesse Grande. Almost four decades later, Grande has disappeared and the documents have been found by Grande’s orphaned granddaughter, Cadence. As dark forces from the realm of fantasy hunt down the documents and their guardian, Cadence must protect the story of Ara.
The book met with some legal opposition from the Tolkien estate upon its release earlier this year. The Hollywood Reporter notes that that conflict has now been resolved and a feature version is in the early planning stages through EMO Films and producers Joel Eisenberg and Timothy Owens. It is noted that the film will use the novel as a “template,” but that it will expand on the true story of the fantasy novelist.
