Film to depict friendship of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien

Independent studio Burns & Co. secured the rights to produce an animated feature film depicting the longtime friendship of classic Christian authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. The studio recently announced the film’s development this week, but did not say when the film would be released. Studio founder Aaron Burns has long been inspired by the men and their notable literary series like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, respectively, he said.

The men weren’t mythical, so why animate the film? The studio received rights to produce a film adaptation of the graphic novel The Mythmakers by New York Times bestselling author and illustrator John Hendrix. The novel’s words and images leap off the page and need to be captured as a film for families, Burns said in a statement released to WORLD. Hendrix said he’s thrilled about the adaptation and that Burns truly understood his graphic novel. Burns shared his love for the Lewis-Tolkien mythology and the worlds they built together, Hendrix said in the statement.

What is the book’s storyline? Hendrix’s graphic novel moves through both men’s placid childhoods into the trenches of World War I and their first meeting at Oxford University in 1929. The book chronicled the men’s ups and downs and their courage to write fantasy, a genre that at the time was considered childish and unsuitable for adult audiences. Hendrix delved into how each shaped the other’s now-iconic works with mythology and faith, how the pair’s relationship fell apart, and how it eventually grew back again.

Both authors' works continue to inspire filmmakers decades later, with Peter Jackson’s award-winning The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Disney’s 2005 adaptation of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Award-winning filmmaker Greta Gerwig is producing another cinematic series adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia, with the first film expected in November 2026. British actor and writer Max McLean also announced last month his plan to adapt Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters into a feature film in partnership with The C.S. Lewis Company. 

Dig deeper: Read Louis Markos' analysis in WORLD Magazine discussing fantasy novels and Christian theology.