With Peter Jackson’s two trilogies finally over, it’s interesting to think about the possibility of another series of movies. The possibility of a The Silmarillion movie has been talked about previously. Unfortunately, the prospect of The Silmarillion ever being filmed doesn’t look very good. The Tolkien estate owns all rights to The Silmarillion and have showed no interest in selling them.
This is what Christopher Tolkien–J.R.R Tolkien’s son–had to say about Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy in an interview with Le Monde:
“They gutted the book, making an action movie for 15-25 year olds. And it seems that The Hobbit will be of the same ilk. Tolkien became…devoured by his popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of the time. The gap widened between the beauty, the seriousness of the work, and what it has become is beyond me. This level of marketing reduces to nothing the aesthetic and philosophical significance of this work.”
Jackson had this to say about the subject in 2012: “I don’t think the Tolkien estate liked those films. I don’t think ‘The Silmarillion’ will go anywhere for quite a long time.” He also said in a separate statement that – “So without the cooperation of the Tolkien estate there can’t be more films.” To me, that statement makes it seem as though Jackson does have some amount of interest in making a film based off of the little-known book.
The Silmarillion was published after Tolkien’s death by his son, Christopher. His son edited the unfinished work and added pieces to make it consistent. If it were ever filmed by Jackson, it would be his first Tolkien film that wasn’t based on a book entirely written by Tolkien himself.
So while unlikely, it’s not completely impossible for Peter Jackson’s series of film adaptations to continue. While some may enjoy the thought of Middle-earth’s history coming to big screen once more, it would likely be the lamest of all Peter Jackson’s films. If you’ve read The Silmarillion, you’d know that it’s mostly an extensive history of Middle-earth. Though there are some parts of the book that could be turned into a worthwhile film.
In the end, only time will tell. Right now, it doesn’t look too great for those of us hoping to see The Silmarillion in movie form. Then again, money talks and if there’s enough interest, the rights to The Silmarillion could be obtained by Warner Bros.
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