Yes, actually, it is. The writers are fans, for the most part, and it's not part of the actual set of films. There are a lot of "authorized" published fanfictions--"Wicked" "The Seven-percent Solution" "The Wind Done Gone" and on and on.
I don't see that "authorized and licensed" changes the nature of it. And particularly in JRRT's case--because *he* won't be the one authorizing it.
The only post-humous Tolkien that's *not* going to be fanfic is that produced by Christopher, and that's not because he's authorized, but because he's actually working with his father's material. Yet there are still those who will argue that The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin are not canon, because the finished product was never seen by Tolkien.
I don't consider the existing LotR movies as canon. They are AU fanfic. Exceptional, brilliant, expensive and *authorized* AU fanfic--but fanfic nonetheless.
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Date: 2007-12-20 03:36 pm (UTC)I don't see that "authorized and licensed" changes the nature of it. And particularly in JRRT's case--because *he* won't be the one authorizing it.
The only post-humous Tolkien that's *not* going to be fanfic is that produced by Christopher, and that's not because he's authorized, but because he's actually working with his father's material. Yet there are still those who will argue that The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin are not canon, because the finished product was never seen by Tolkien.
I don't consider the existing LotR movies as canon. They are AU fanfic. Exceptional, brilliant, expensive and *authorized* AU fanfic--but fanfic nonetheless.