There’s plenty of fragments and pieces that were edited by Christopher Tolkien that could expand it but the question is should it be done?
The problem with anything from the Silmarillion is that there are no happy endings. At all! Which is what I love about the material, but it's damn hard to turn into a blockbuster for family viewing. Still, a good movie could perhaps be made of The Sons of Hurin.
Plot for the new LOTR trilogy: Arwen dies suddenly so Aragon goes into hiding on an island to pout away the rest of his existence. But in Middle Earth somehow Sauron has returned so a new hero goes searching for Frodo and Gandalf so they can go help find Aragon and restore peace.
That's always the question. This was also a question regarding Jackson's LOTR movie trilogy, and as far as I'm concerned, he knocked it out of the park, despite the well-known omissions and additions. Not everyone agrees, particularly among the more puritanical members of the Tolkien fan community, but the fact that there continues to be Tolkien projects greenlighted is a testament to how well-regarded (to many) the Jackson LOTR trilogy was. In fact, it likely overshadows whatever comes after because there was certainly a bar set that possibly cannot be matched again - to those who enjoyed the Jackson films. The Hobbit films were a bloated CGI orgy and the Amazon series, while not as bad as some suggest, clearly takes liberties with established Tolkien lore, and I am not talking about the race of the characters which to me is irrelevant. Should it be done? I think so, if it can be done well and in the true spirit of Tolkien's work and literary ideals. Yes, that is a big "if".
I enjoy it but I recognize it’s Jackson’s version of Tolkien’s story. He managed to turn it into a massive hit because of his sensibility as a filmmaker and writer. Many fans hate that because it’s not THEIR version of what they thought it should be.
You're right about no happy endings, other than Morgoth eventually getting the boot permanently. That would be difficult to resolve, if done in big-budget Hollywood fashion. That Melkor/Morgoth really was an @$#hole.
I can’t believe how bad they are and how bad they’ve screwed up WB. This reminds me of when Kinney Group initially took over the company.
There was a great comment in the 1960s by a departing director, who blasted the Kinney Corporation and said, "oh, great. So a company specializing in parking lots, funeral homes, and SHOES is now going to get in the movie business!" That was a rocky time for Warner Bros.
I guess there's a semi-happy resolution to Beren & Luthien if you get to Beren's resurrection. I'm sure any film would end with that.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think this is a horrible business decision by a company that is buried in a mountain of debt. I just don’t see how they avoid losing money on the thing. The original movies hit lightening in the bottle. Jackson created an epic trilogy that appealed to hard core fans; casual fans; and non-fans alike. I don’t think that can be duplicated, particularly if you aiming the movies primarily at hard core fans. Unless they plan to go “small” with these films; I don’t see how this type of film will ever generate the revenue to recover the enormous production costs that they will inevitably throw at it. IMO, this has been the primary problem with the DC Cinematic Universe - they create movies primarily aimed at comic book fans and, then wonder why their dark or “R” rated movies don’t generate the revenues to recoup the enormous production costs.
WB don't have the rights to everything, not the Silmarillion, so I assume they can't touch that. There are some good stories in there, you would have to mess with time a bit, either compress it or time jump, but if done right I would love to see a story about the Noldor moving to Middle Eart and fighting Morgoth etc. Reading the book there is lots of cinematic imagery that comes into my mind. It wouldn't seem like a prequel as most won't know who the people are or what the end result will be. But if they only have rights to LOTR and the Hobbit it may seem a bit forced.
Yes, it appears that they have the rights to the same material that Amazon does, at least up to this point. I hope that Warner Brothers takes that as inspiration to show that they can do this better than Amazon. Or maybe it will force Amazon to up their game, now that there's competition. Then again, I'm not holding my breath that either will happen, but one can always hope. I keep seeing (of course unfounded) rumors that the most likely WB project, at first, will be "Young Aragorn". They would have to invent a lot of non-Tolkien padding to flesh that out into a full length film. If it was up to me, assuming access is restricted to The Hobbit and LOTR, it would be The Scouring of The Shire. It's a great chapter and I think there's just about enough there to develop a fairly complete film. But not three films, I hope. Quality over quantity, please.
