Posted on 05/17/2026 1:49:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The posthumously released book had been previously unavailable to adapt
Peter Jackson has revealed that he is in talks to adapt further works by The Lord Of The Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, including The Silmarillion.
The Oscar-winner directed the original Lord Of The Rings trilogy between 2001-03, as well as splitting The Hobbit into three movies from 2012-14. These remain the only films to have been directly adapted from Tolkien’s books, with films such as The War of the Rohirrim and TV show Rings Of Power taken from information within the appendices within the books.
However, in a discussion with Deadline, Jackson revealed that he and studio Warner Bros were in discussion with Tolkien’s estate to adapt previously unavailable works, most notably The Silmarillion, a collection of myths and stories posthumously released in 1977, edited by his son, Christopher.
The filmmaker noted that a change in personnel on the board of Tolkien’s estate may lead to them acquiring the rights.
“Christopher Tolkien edited and published other (J.R.R. Tolkien) books – The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales – I mean there’s a lot more Tolkien writing that would actually make great movies that were subsequently edited and released by Christopher,” he explained. “But he just absolutely not… those rights have never been available.”
“But Christopher passed away recently, well, I suppose two or three years ago now, and the younger Tolkiens, this next generation, are now running the estate. They’re much more open to talking, so a combination of Warners and us have been talking to some of the younger Tolkien members who are now part of the board, about the possibility of actually licensing the rights to some of the other books. It would be nice to get away from the appendices and get something a bit more meaty.”
Two further films based around Tolkien’s works are in production: a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, titled The Hunt For Gollum, which will be directed by Andy Serkis. There will also be the sequel The Shadow Of The Past, based on a chapter of The Lord Of The Rings book, which will be adapted by Stephen Colbert.
Recently, Peter Jackson shared an anecdote about a time a delivery driver told him The Hobbit movies were “crap”.
He really screwed up The Hobbit by making that 95,000 word young adult book into a trilogy.
It's like reading endless family trees, for no reason whatsoever.
Agreed. It could have been fine, but they stretched was at most two movies into three
Almost impossible to read, let alone film.......
The Hobbit movies were 3/2 too long and seemed aimed at a semi-illiterate 14-21 male demographic.
You’re right, Rankin/Bass DID do the 1977 animated “Hobbit” movie and the 1980 animated version of “The Return Of The King”.
Rings of Power is face palming bad, filled with Mary Sues.
It's so odd. I think I read that book as a kid in an afternoon, and he stretched it to 7 hrs 54 minutes screentime for 95,000 words.
By contrast, JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(Book 5) was 258,000 words, and David Yates compressed it to just 2 hrs 18 minutes. Yes, he left out a TON of backstory and character development, but you certainly "get the gist."
There are some great individual stories in the Silmarillion, but you have to know your Tolkien to know how they fit in. I could see making it a Rivendell elf storyteller narrating the tales to bring them together and explain their significance to an audience in Bilbo’s day. Just making the book into a movie straight up would bore a lot of people.
I am a huge Hobbit fan but I only made it about halfway thru reading the Silmarilian. I don’t see how these separate tails can be combined into a set of movies.
“The Silmarillion would be super high fantasy and nearly impossible IMHO to film”
Agreed. But they’ll do it, no matter how silly it turns out, because,”There’s gold in them thar hills...”
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