The absolutely barking mad thing about it is that this is probably because they didn't have the rights to the Silmarillion. So it wasn't just that they hadn't bothered to read the source material, they were actually forbidden from using anything in it. They had the rights to LotR and the appendixes, but not the Silmarillion itself. So of course they decided to make a Silmarillion story anyway not worrying about the fact that there is actual canon for this era and they were trampling all over it.
I think you're right - they thought the name would guarantee that it was a huge success and they'd have a moneyspinner on their hands. But Tolkien fans hated it and non-Tolkien fans didn't love it enough to make up the difference.
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Date: 2023-02-04 11:58 am (UTC)From:The absolutely barking mad thing about it is that this is probably because they didn't have the rights to the Silmarillion. So it wasn't just that they hadn't bothered to read the source material, they were actually forbidden from using anything in it. They had the rights to LotR and the appendixes, but not the Silmarillion itself. So of course they decided to make a Silmarillion story anyway not worrying about the fact that there is actual canon for this era and they were trampling all over it.
I think you're right - they thought the name would guarantee that it was a huge success and they'd have a moneyspinner on their hands. But Tolkien fans hated it and non-Tolkien fans didn't love it enough to make up the difference.