The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Main:
silmarillion as the next trilogy?



jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 14 2012, 5:40pm


Views: 1310
silmarillion as the next trilogy?

if you could make three films from the silmarillion what stores would you choose?

i think youd have to have three stand alone films, with a hint of continuity

i personally think the story of luthien and beren is totally epic and would be a brilliant film, sauron as a wolf? wow

also seeing the rings forged, good sauron, numenor, fall of gondolin, so many great images!


iandea14
Rivendell


Nov 14 2012, 5:51pm


Views: 884
Would be cool!

That would be awesome but the only thing that would be hard about that is that no one even knows what the Silmarillion is (Except the brilliant people on this forum) I have to constantly teach people what the Silmarillion is and that it was the first book that was based in Middle-Earth. So it would be hard to get the attention of the people. The only way I could see this being popular is if The Hobbit is a complete success and people just go see it because they liked LOTR and The Hobbit and because they know who Peter Jackson is. But I think it would be awesome and agree with your three choices.


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 14 2012, 5:59pm


Views: 889
agreed..

well lets take it as a given the films will be great ,and that theyll make a ton of money, the film studios will surely demand more films!!

considering there is so much more source material in the silmarillion thats not been touched, you could even have dare i say it , bilbo reading the stories ( the films) to young hobbits to incorparate him in somehow! just an idea.

you could get different directors in to suit each film, im sure pj would have had enough of it by now! ;)


iandea14
Rivendell


Nov 14 2012, 6:03pm


Views: 892
That's a good idea

I like that idea of Bilbo reading them. The Silmarillion is full of so many stories that it would almost be hard to pick which ones. But the fall of Gondolin would be a must have!


Tigero
Rivendell


Nov 14 2012, 8:27pm


Views: 850
Atleast Children of Hurin, was my favourite of the tales (the book itself)

I guess you can count it in, there was a bit of it in silmarillion. Anywsys the darkness and misery in it is just so poetic and would make a (atleast a diffrent kind of) great movie, although the sort of self-repeating series of failures and bad luck might make it boring, it would need a bit of editing... But just think about a whole movie like the Alan Lee's cover on the book, no eye-hurting oversaturated colors, so melancholic and cold... I like.

Pessimists have no disappointments.


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 14 2012, 8:49pm


Views: 857
like..

have you seen the film 'the road' (its has viggo in it) imagin that kind of bleakness for beren and luthien..that would rock! exactly like how you described!


FingonOfPittsburgh
Lorien


Nov 14 2012, 9:24pm


Views: 845
I truly believe this will happen some day

Fall of Gondolin - Beren and Luthien - Turin Turambar (which I believe will be hinted at in the Hobbit movie) - Feanor/Kin-Slaying. I can see it all being made into films over the years.


Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires.

--J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #43, to his son Michael


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 14 2012, 9:27pm


Views: 838
Those are the three most likely

They work perfectly well as standalone stories. But they're also connected enough to make a nice trilogy of sorts.

I don't expect it to happen anytime soon, but I would love it.

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 14 2012, 11:54pm


Views: 878
they might

... i never thought id see 3 hobbit films ;) if they make any sort of profit the studios will be begging for more films!! lets hope;)


Bombadil
Half-elven


Nov 15 2012, 9:11am


Views: 805
Personally I would perfer the Sil & CofH

To be a Cable series that could stretch over Years
Like
Game of Thornes.


Defender of Nogrod
Registered User


Nov 15 2012, 10:15am


Views: 808
Defs CofH.

Because then you'd get the Nirnaeth...

Yavanna: "Eru is bountiful, now let thy children beware! For there shall walk a power in the forests whose wrath they will arouse at their peril."

Aule: "Nonetheless they will have need of wood."


DanielLB
Immortal


Nov 15 2012, 10:46am


Views: 812
Personally, I don't think you can make a trilogy without filming the entire book

You can't have a film including Melian or Morgoth, without including everything.

I don't fancy a series or film of the Silmarillion either. It's the one book I want to stay as a book.

Want Hobbit Movie News? Hobbit Headlines of the Week!



Elthir
Grey Havens

Nov 15 2012, 2:16pm


Views: 815
Nothing wrong with imagining this of course, but...

... the rights to The Silmarillion, or The Children of Hurin for example, are currently owned by the Tolkien Estate.

I'm not sure how Christopher Tolkien is being characterized with respect to The Silmarillion and copyright (as an 'author' or 'co-author' maybe?), but I think anything he published from 1977 and afterward will probably have to await entering the public domain in any case, as it seems unlikely that he will sell the film rights...

... and I'm guessing Adam Tolkien shares his father's views? Not really sure about that.


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 15 2012, 3:26pm


Views: 785
The studio might beg

But I don't think the Tolkien Estate will sell the film rights.

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 15 2012, 3:30pm


Views: 792
I don't want an adaptation either, really.

I think most of The Silmarillion just isn't suitable for film. It's too much like history. It works better as a series of images in one's head (at least, for me it does).

But I do think some of the later stories are very well-suited for individual films. CoH specifically. It's already been published as a short novel. So for one, it's film rights would probably be separate from Silmarillion film rights. And also, it's easily a very moving and compelling story, even without a firm background of Silmarillion material. I think with the right director and writer, it could be a wonderful film.

The last thing I want, though, is for someone to start churning out ME films solely to cash in on an established franchise. That would be awful.

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 15 2012, 3:31pm


Views: 769
so..

what about unfinished tales? have the film rights been sold for these? if they havnt then i guess that means any extra story arcs or backstory in the hobbit can only be derived from the appendices of the lord of the rings.. thats a legal headache i wouldnt want to deal with!


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 15 2012, 3:36pm


Views: 794
unfortunately...

its a sad fact that money will always dictate what films get made , sometimes for the good and bad!

i do disagree though, in many ways i think stories from the silmarillion have less baggage and imagery associated with them than say the hobbit, which would make for a more believable viewing experience ( like when they use unknown actors, it always seems better )

when i first saw lotr it was too much seeing elijah wood as frodo, because i knew frodo in my mind and illustratins and elijah wood from other films so well it just didnt seem believable in the end!


malickfan
Gondor

Nov 15 2012, 3:42pm


Views: 768
Exactly my thoughts

I still find myself bemused that people kid themselves a Silmarillion film would in any way resemble the book...and I'm not sure how a 32,000 year long creation myth without hobbits or Gandalf would find a marketing hook...

‘As they came to the gates Cirdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and we was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said ‘All is now ready.’

Perhaps the most fascinating Individual in Middle Earth



jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 15 2012, 3:52pm


Views: 780
fair point..

i never thought it would resemble the book! its a bunch of short stores bunched together, youd have to use just a few of the stories as seperate films or something,

there are a few creation myth films that worked, 2001 space oddysey sort of, a few christian epics off the top of my head!

but the elves do run through most of the stories from the beginning till the third age so there is that! plus may other characters,


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 15 2012, 4:28pm


Views: 767
No, the rights to UT

are still held by the Tolkien Estate, as far as I have heard. Although, there was speculation at one point that PJ may have come to an agreement with the Tolkien Estate to use "The Quest of Erebor" material. Whether that ever happened, I don't know.

I still hold, though, that The Silmarillion is better as a book, because Tolkien's use of language creates an image in your head for certain passages, but that it still reads very much like a history, not a novel. I'll give an example.

This is from chapter 24 Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath:

"But at the last the might of Valinor came up out of the West, and the challenge of the trumpets of Eonwe filled the sky; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of their arms, for the host of the Valar were arrayed in forms young and fair and terrible, and the mountains rang beneath their feet."

It's an absolutely stunning passage, and it creates a magnificent image of splendour and power beyond belief. But it's difficult to see it acted out. It reads very much like a history, or even the Bible. Trying to transpose this to film would be, I think, a disaster. There's just no way to do this prose justice. And since most of the book is written in a similar fashion, I don't think it could be satisfactorily made into a film.

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 15 2012, 4:30pm


Views: 758
Agreed

There's just no way to bring the rich language to life. And I think the prose is a major part of the appeal of The Silmarillion (and probably also one of the biggest turn-offs).

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 15 2012, 4:33pm


Views: 784
ok..

he must have becuase in lotr appendix there is actually very little to go regarding extra material for that time period in the hobbit! and with the best will inthe world, when you start making stuff up and not using source material, thats when its gonna go wrong!

your probably right, and yes there are some hugely epic monents that would be hard to do, im just a sucker for the imagery and good cgi dragon or two! god imagine a host of balrogs and dragons attacking gondolin in the cinema, thats the sort of experience id pay to see lol


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 15 2012, 4:38pm


Views: 767
have you seen..

on a side note, have you seen the jim henson series called the storyteller that was on years ago, i imagine the films could run like that, its a great fantasy series in its own right.


(This post was edited by jimmyfenn on Nov 15 2012, 4:39pm)


Ardamírë
Valinor


Nov 15 2012, 4:43pm


Views: 766
I would say there's a difference

between making up material willy-nilly and adapting from source material. I don't think PJ and co. necessarily used the Unfinished Tales. I'm just saying it was rumored at one point.

"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales


Elthir
Grey Havens

Nov 15 2012, 5:58pm


Views: 775
Considering Christopher Tolkien's comments...

... in his recent interview I doubt he even considered selling the rights to The Quest of Erebor or anything else.

To my knowledge the filmmakers have not (at least yet) claimed that they even asked for the rights to this text, or anything from Unfinished Tales. They are fleshing out history gleaned from the Appendices as far as I know, and only have the film rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the film rights to these both being sold long ago now.

When The Children of Hurin was published the Estate commented that no film is being considered (it was still on their website last time I looked, in one of their FAQs).


(This post was edited by Elthir on Nov 15 2012, 6:06pm)


grammaboodawg
Immortal


Nov 17 2012, 12:44pm


Views: 346
We can hope :) I'd love to see it happen!

I know the Sil is not available for adaptation at this point, but you never know... ;)

I'd DEFINITELY want to see the story of Beren and Luthien. It would be a must, imho, since it's directly tied into the story of Aragorn and Arwen.



sample

I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.



TORn's Observations Lists
Unused Scenes



imin
Valinor


Nov 17 2012, 5:45pm


Views: 372
Ain't going to happen

Some say that's sad, others say thank goodness! I am in the thank goodness group.

Its not that i dont think it can be made - obviously something could be made with a resemblance to The Silmarillion, but i dont think it would be a very good movie or would cost so much to do decently but without the market for it, that it would have to be done on the cheap and then look like a b-movie.

So for me i dont think it can be done well and if people are that bothered about Middle-earth and want to know - there is the book to read and appreciate.

For me it is very special and i cant believe almost how highly i rate it considering my first response to it aged about 14. I hope it will be left alone and unless the tolkien estate is offered millions upon millions i dont think it would happen, even then i am unsure if they would - i like to think that some people in the world cant be bought.


jimmyfenn
Rohan


Nov 17 2012, 6:20pm


Views: 354
well..

i like to think tolkien might be interested in the idea, he did sell of the film rights himself to lotr and give christopher lee his blessing to portray gandalf! so i think films interested him , but thats al speculation o my behalf!

i just want to see a vampire sauron in badass cgi lol

for quickbeam often laughed, he laughed if the sun came out from behind a cloud, he laughed if they came upon a stream or spring:


imin
Valinor


Nov 17 2012, 6:52pm


Views: 387
personally i think he sold them as he wanted the cash but never thought they would get made

I just honestly dont think they would be given a budget big enough to make them good and i would hate for the lotr to be great, hobbit to (hopefully) be great and then have some mediocre silmarillion based film.

they certainly are not going to be made any time Christopher Tolkien is alive but he is a very old man, it will be up to his family and the estate to do as they please until the copyright is up in 50 years after he passes away.

If they had to be done i would prefer them to be done in another country with another director - a fresh start. I do think new zealand is so tied to middle earth now, doing something like that could be hard.

I think in 50 years when the copyright presumably will run out unless they can extend it like disney would be a good time to make them - more technology and probably a totally different take on the work than what there would be now.


Tigero
Rivendell


Nov 18 2012, 5:08pm


Views: 365
Or even better, whole film like ''Elrond's prophecy''

IMHO it is the best scene in the whole trilogy, the lighting, toning, music, monologue, scenery a true masterpiece worth an oscar on it's own. No scene will ever be so delicate as it is. (Unless they make a CoH movie :P)

I'm just afraid that Hobbit will not have such jewels of moviemaking but rather be dull mainstream fantasy/action. We'll see...

Pessimists have no disappointments.


Sam20
Lorien

Nov 19 2012, 5:43pm


Views: 535
The Silm

This is something that we are gonna hear a lot in the years following The Hobbit adaptations trilogy. Brace yourself for more topics on that matter.

To me, I just can't see how this can be. The Tolkien Estate probably won't sell the right. Chrisopher Tolkien recently expressed his dislike for the LOTR adaptation in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde and was strongly against that of The Hobbit. I mean the matter of right issue has even been brought to a court house... So there can be no doubt to me that a Silmarillion adaption won't happen during his lifetime. Will his heirs go against his will? I have my doubts. Let's no forget that the great work of J.R.R Tolkien on the first ages of Middle-Earth would likely not have seen the light of publication without his son Christopher who has done a great deal of editing to make a book of it. I undertsand perfectly why he may be protective of these works. So, there is not much hope to me but one cannot know what will happen in the futur over the years.


(This post was edited by sam90 on Nov 19 2012, 5:47pm)