Filmmaker Peter Jackson has revealed that he has had early talks to adapt further works in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” franchise, including some previously off-limits major material like “The Silmarillion”.
Jackson helmed the original “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in the early 2000s followed by “The Hobbit” trilogy in the early 2010s.
Everything else, from Amazon’s “The Rings of Power” series through to the animated “The War of the Rohirrim” and the upcoming films like “The Hunt for Gollum”, has come from the appendices within those books.
There’s plenty of other material that hasn’t been available – most notably “The Silmarillion” – because J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher Tolkien hated the films and even sued New Line over royalties in a legal battle that was later settled.
Christopher passed away in 2020, control of the estate going to the next generation, who Jackson says are much more open to the idea. He tells Deadline:
“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.”
That material likely includes the events of the First Age and the original Dark Lord of Middle-earth, Morgoth, who was ultimately defeated and banished. Sauron was Morgoth’s servant/successor. Very little from that time has been portrayed beyond the opening of the premiere episode of “The Rings of Power”.
Before that, Jackson has multiple projects on the way, including “The Hunt for Gollum” which he will produce and the “Shadows of the Past” film dealing with unadapted chapters of “The Hobbit”. He also recently teased “The Adventures of Tintin” sequel.
