Nicholas Hoult is J.R.R. Tolkien in Fox Searchlight’s first full-length trailer for Tolkien, the upcoming biopic on the life of the Lord of the Rings scribe.
It’s a rousing trailer, and it looks like the focus will largely be on Tolkien’s lengthy, dramatic courtship with Edith, the woman who would become his wife (played here by the excellent Lily Collins); and his time spent fighting in the Big One, which inspired some of the novels that would make him a legend.
Those inspirations here look like a visually interesting part of the movie, as dragons, Dark Riders and Balrogs take shape amongst the chaos of war. The movie is being helmed by Finnish director Dome Karukoski, and we’ll see how it all works out in May.