The family and estate of celebrated “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” author JRR Tolkien have slammed the forthcoming biopic starring Nicholas Hoult as a young version of the author.

Hoult stars in the film about the formative years of the author’s life as he finds friendship, courage and inspiration among a fellow group of writers and artists at school and how the brothership strengthens until the outbreak of the first world war which threatens to tear their fellowship apart.

On Tuesday morning, the estate and family of Tolkien issued a short and terse statement via The Guardian saying they: “wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorise or participate in the making of this film…[we] do not endorse it or its content in any way.”

A spokesperson for the estate told the paper that the statement was intended to make its position clear, rather than herald future legal action. Tolkien’s estate has been careful to protect his legacy over the years.

A spokesperson for Fox Searchlight, the distributor who is releasing the project, saysl” “We are so proud of Dome Karukoski’s film TOLKIEN which focuses on the early years of J.R.R. Tolkien’s extraordinary life and does not depict subject matter from his novels. While we did not work with the Tolkien Estate on this project, the filmmaking team has the utmost respect and admiration for Mr. Tolkien and his phenomenal contribution to literature.”

Lily Collins co-stars in the Dome Karukoski-directed film as Tolkien’s wife Edith.