How would ‘The Silmarillion’ fare as a film trilogy?

The One Ring Ney ^

[Perdogg]

It’s the film project that many of us fear we may never see. Yet surely, with time, all may be possible. In this article, Rud the Spud takes a look at how a trilogy based on Professor Tolkien’s The Silmarillion might be constructed – should such a project ever come to fruition – and discusses whether or not it could possibily live up to the Professor’s massive collection of stories.

The Silmarillion Movie Trilogy By Rud the Spud

It’s an idea that has been capturing the minds of Ringers since the days of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and probably before that too; will Peter Jackson or indeed anyone make a movie of The Silmarillion? After the success of The Lord of the Rings in the cinemas, the natural question was “When will he make The Hobbit?” Ten years, eleven Oscars and a few greenlight hitches later, we have just been treated to the second film in a trilogy of Hobbit movies. Old fans are loving the opportunity to delve back into the world of Middle-Earth again, new fans are discovering it for the first time and at the end of it all, naturally (and hopefully), we will still be wanting more. Eyes have already been looking toward The Silmarillion – Tolkien’s posthumously released life’s work telling the story of the First Age of Middle-Earth, the Awakening of the Elves and the events that will ultimately create the world that we know from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

[Usagi_yo]

It would be a tough job. I came to the realization that no Single movie, whether in 3 parts or 5 could ever do it justice.

Every story told in the book is a treasure and shining gem. It wouldn’t be possible to bring it to the big screen fairly. To many continuity and development constraints.

It would however make a great 2-3 seasons of 12 episodes each cable series done in a story book fashion. It could possibly go 5 seasons if they wanted the post Melkor early Sauron stuff.

[dangus]

I’m envisioning it more as a TV series.

[muleskinner]

The Silmarillion audiobook unabridged version.

If you have the time, this makes The Silmarillion come alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKVUkyFbU1s&list=PLmq-2EnAFfm1XjqIobOfc9fBlG5-rsi3M

[Vanders9]

I disagree. If you read it very closely, you see that there is an awful lot of action, it's just most of it happens "off-camera" as it were. Well, with Peter Jackson behind it, it all COULD (and would) be seen.

For the record, I think the silmarillion is too sprawling to make into a film series like LOTR. Theres also no hobbits. What you could do would be to produce films from the longer and more developed stories in it, like Beren and Luthien for example.

[Vanders9]

Well, to be fair, he never actually finished it.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Hey, Galadriel was what, 7,000+ years old by the time of LOTR.

Not bad looking for an old chick, eh?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The film project I fear I will never see is Larry Niven's Ringworld.

[ez]

They stole the concept of Ringworld for that lousy Matt Damon movie Elysium. Though they made it an orbiting space station instead of a “planet” it had the same rotation and the same walls to hold the atmosphere in.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

In actuality, the part that foretells the events in the ‘Ring’ trilogy is only about 20 pages at the end of the Silmarillion. The rest of it might not fare too well with other than devoted Tolkien fans.

[Perdogg]

By whom. I am sure Game of Thrones is much better as a book than as HBO series - which main goal appears to see how much they shock us with their homosexual sex and overall sadism.