The Tolkien Estate (namely Christopher) is incredibly protective of J. R. R.'s works and their integrity. Anything that is produced, they want produced true to his image. That being said they were very much not fans of the theatrical LotR films we know and love by New Line Cinema. Also worth noting that when J. R. R. sold the movie rights back in the 60s, he only sold the movie rights to the LotR trilogy and the Hobbit, but there was an additional clause that stated that if the Silmarillion were to be sold, the company that bought the rights to the LotR/Hobbit would get first dibs on it. So, if they want a Silmarillion movie, they have to offer it to the parent company of New Line Cinema, meaning they’d likely purchase it and produce the movies, which the Tolkien Estate does not want. So, the chances of the rights being sold, at least while New Line Cinema and it’s affiliates exist, are practically zero.
So, why not make it themselves? Very much for the same reason. I don’t know your familiarity with the Silmarillion, but… it’s very heavy reading. Not to say that it isn’t a good read, or that the story isn’t there, but the first section of the book is a bunch of shapeless angels singing songs about life and accidentally creating the universe, and the remainder of the book has 500 characters with a total of 17 different names that get altered, swapped, and outright changed halfway through the story. A true 1:1 adaption of the book would probably be longer than the original extended trilogy, but be way harder to follow for the average audience. So, major changes would be needed to make it financially viable, which are the exact things the Tolkien Estate does not want New Line Cinema making them.
TL;DR: The Tolkien Estate has to sell the Silmarillion rights to New Line Cinema before anyone else can buy it, and the Estate didn’t like the other movies so they aren’t going to sell it to them (and thus to anyone). They didn’t like the movies because the movies made too many changes to get the books to work for film, so they certainly will not be the ones to make the major changes that would be necessary to turn J. R. R.'s Bible fanfic into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Thanks for the extensive reply! Yeah, I’m one of those weirdos who loved the Silmarillion, even as a teenager. I guess I’ve read it about 4x over the years, and I generally found it way more rational and absorbing than something like Le Morte d’Arthur.
Trying to cover the whole book seems insane to me, but as mentioned above, I feel like major stories and chapters could very easily be turned in to some kind of effective adaptation. They more or less stand alone, compared to the brutal, endless slog of the overall elves against Morgoth arcs.
The time seems (and has seemed) really ripe for such stories to be told, that I hope the Estate can move forward in some useful way upon such stuff. That said, I can very much understand their unhappiness with Jackson’s TLotR movies, which were good, but way too ‘Hollywood’ for my taste across various scenes. I actually enjoyed the ‘making of’ mini-movies in the deluxe set far more than the movies themselves…
Okay, I see, but… is there some reason they wouldn’t be open to the idea of doing Silmarillion stories?
The Tolkien Estate (namely Christopher) is incredibly protective of J. R. R.'s works and their integrity. Anything that is produced, they want produced true to his image. That being said they were very much not fans of the theatrical LotR films we know and love by New Line Cinema. Also worth noting that when J. R. R. sold the movie rights back in the 60s, he only sold the movie rights to the LotR trilogy and the Hobbit, but there was an additional clause that stated that if the Silmarillion were to be sold, the company that bought the rights to the LotR/Hobbit would get first dibs on it. So, if they want a Silmarillion movie, they have to offer it to the parent company of New Line Cinema, meaning they’d likely purchase it and produce the movies, which the Tolkien Estate does not want. So, the chances of the rights being sold, at least while New Line Cinema and it’s affiliates exist, are practically zero.
So, why not make it themselves? Very much for the same reason. I don’t know your familiarity with the Silmarillion, but… it’s very heavy reading. Not to say that it isn’t a good read, or that the story isn’t there, but the first section of the book is a bunch of shapeless angels singing songs about life and accidentally creating the universe, and the remainder of the book has 500 characters with a total of 17 different names that get altered, swapped, and outright changed halfway through the story. A true 1:1 adaption of the book would probably be longer than the original extended trilogy, but be way harder to follow for the average audience. So, major changes would be needed to make it financially viable, which are the exact things the Tolkien Estate does not want New Line Cinema making them.
TL;DR: The Tolkien Estate has to sell the Silmarillion rights to New Line Cinema before anyone else can buy it, and the Estate didn’t like the other movies so they aren’t going to sell it to them (and thus to anyone). They didn’t like the movies because the movies made too many changes to get the books to work for film, so they certainly will not be the ones to make the major changes that would be necessary to turn J. R. R.'s Bible fanfic into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Thanks for the extensive reply! Yeah, I’m one of those weirdos who loved the Silmarillion, even as a teenager. I guess I’ve read it about 4x over the years, and I generally found it way more rational and absorbing than something like Le Morte d’Arthur.
Trying to cover the whole book seems insane to me, but as mentioned above, I feel like major stories and chapters could very easily be turned in to some kind of effective adaptation. They more or less stand alone, compared to the brutal, endless slog of the overall elves against Morgoth arcs.
The time seems (and has seemed) really ripe for such stories to be told, that I hope the Estate can move forward in some useful way upon such stuff. That said, I can very much understand their unhappiness with Jackson’s TLotR movies, which were good, but way too ‘Hollywood’ for my taste across various scenes. I actually enjoyed the ‘making of’ mini-movies in the deluxe set far more than the movies themselves…