After settling a legal dispute between himself and the Tolkien estate, author Steve Hillard has reached a deal to develop and secure financing for a feature film adaptation of his novel, Mirkwood, which tells a fictional back story of Lord of The Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Hillard reached the deal with EMO Films, with Joel Eisenberg and Timothy Owens acting as executive producers on the project.

The story mixes a fictional reality and Tolkien’s fantasy, telling of the author trying to keep some secret ancient documents””which tell of a halfling named Ara who comes from a land that inspired Middle Earth””from falling into the hands of evil. Thinking that it’s too dangerous to keep himself, he gives them to a scissor sharpener who’s able to keep them safe for many decades before he disappears and his orphaned granddaughter discovers them.

Here’s a quote from Hillard and description from the book’s site:

“Tolkien fervently hoped, indeed believed, that there was no divide between belief and reality,” says Hillard. “My novel asks the question, “˜What if he experienced this borderland first hand?'”

Blending historical fact with fantasy, Hillard interweaves Tolkien’s philosophy, his role as a World War II spy and imagined conversations between the great author and his friend, C.S. Lewis. Hillard was inspired to write the novel by his experience reading the Lord of the Rings series to his daughters, who enjoyed the books but asked, “Where are the heroines?”

Hillard also shared that when it comes to the movie adaptation it “…will follow the template of the novel, but will delve considerably deeper into Tolkien’s little-known back story, such as his original plans to become a codebreaker in World War II up through the writing of his enduring works.”

[Source: Heat Vision]