The only way I would consider this acceptable is if by “first steps if their adventure” what they mean is the whole section that the movie trilogy skips (tom bombadil, the barrow down, etc).
That might actually be the case because I believe they actually have rights to that material since it’s part of the original trilogy.
Colbert on Monday revealed that the film will be based on “Fogs on the Barrow-downs,” the eighth chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, where Hobbits are trapped by a Barrow-wight in an unnatural fog. The story also includes a fan favorite character omitted from the previous films, Tom Bombadil. The movie will be derived from chapters three through eight of Tolkien’s landmark book.
The only way I would consider this acceptable is if by “first steps if their adventure” what they mean is the whole section that the movie trilogy skips (tom bombadil, the barrow down, etc).
That might actually be the case because I believe they actually have rights to that material since it’s part of the original trilogy.
It looks like that’s the case!
At the very least this demonstrates some deliberation and intent behind the project.