Prequels (and reboots) also threaten to over-explain: learning just how Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side of the Force or how Bilbo ended up with the One Ring are compelling ideas for a film.

— You have to hope that this is just an infelicity, that  Andrew Liptak doesn’t really think that Peter Jackson (or Tolkien?) came up with the idea of The Hobbit as a LOTR “prequel.” But if indeed he knows better it’s hard to see what the point of the sentence is.