In both literature and film, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit stand as unparalleled works that helped define the fantasy genre and pave the way for the modern widespread success of Game of Thrones.

Now, the upcoming biographical film Tolkien is set to take a closer look at J.R.R. Tolkien, the man who wrote those seminal novels and created Middle Earth. Nicholas Hoult, who currently plays the Beast in Fox's X-Men movies, will portray the author in the film, which is set to chronicle his formative years and experiences that inspired his novels.

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As the Hollywood Reporter notes, Tolkien has secured a release date on May 10, 2019. The long-gestating Fox Searchlight and Chernin Entertainment film will face stiff competition at the box office from Detective Pikachu and The Hustle, a remake of the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway.

The Dome Karukoski-directed film will follow a young Tolkien as he and his friends grow up to find their bonds tested by trials of World War I, which would later inform Tolkien's fantasy novels. Lilly Collins, who starred in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, will star alongside Hoult as Edith Bratt, Tolkien's wife who inspired some of Middle Earth's star-crossed romances.

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If the pending Fox-Disney deal closes as expected in the next several weeks, Tolkien could be one of the first major Fox films that's released under Disney's purview.

While The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have already inspired a pair of blockbuster cinematic trilogies, a new Lord of the Rings series is currently in development at Amazon Studios.

Directed by Dome Karukoski, Tolkien stars Nicholas Hoult, Lilly Collins, Colm Meaney, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Craig Roberts, Laura Donnelly, Genevieve O'Reilly, Pam Ferris, and Derek Jacobi, and is set to be released on May 10, 2019.