The Rings of Power are not the great success that was expected on Prime Video, but The Lord of the Rings still has a strong appeal. This is evidenced by Warner Bros. producing new films of The Lord of the Rings, and it doesn’t take long for a new adaptation to be announced.
That’s why it shouldn’t surprise us that the holy grail of Tolkien adaptations is always on everyone’s mind. A work that everyone wants to possess, but no one can touch: The Silmarillion.
A son who does not want his father’s work to be touched
The reason for this is that the Tolkien Society has been adamant for years: they will not allow it to be adapted. It is a work that is too particular, too complex, and they do not see it as suitable for adaptation. Something that could well change in the future.
According to Peter Jackson, director of the original The Lord of the Rings films, “there are many more writings by Tolkien that would be great to turn into movies, edited and published later by Christopher, but he simply did not allow any… the mere idea of a film adaptation.”
But the important thing is that “Christopher passed away not long ago, well, about two or three years ago —he left us in 2020—, and the younger Tolkiens, this new generation that now leads the heritage, are much more open to talking“.
Among those texts that he did not allow the idea of adapting is the Silmarillion. In fact, Christopher was a well-known detractor of the work that Jackson did in the films, even declaring that they had destroyed the books and disrespected his father’s work. Something that has made the possibility of new adaptations difficult over the years.
This does not mean that we are close to seeing a movie of The Silmarillion. Not even that it is in development. But it does mean that there is now a possibility that, in the future, we may see a movie of the author’s most mythical and complex book. If the Tolkien Society decides that it is a good idea.