Warner Bros. is already steering The Lord of the Rings back toward theaters, but Peter Jackson appears to be thinking beyond the next two announced Middle-earth films.
Jackson, who directed the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and later The Hobbit films, has said he would like future adaptations to move past the appendix-based material that has fed recent screen projects. His interest, as he described it in a recent interview, is in Tolkien books with deeper story material, including The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
That does not mean a Silmarillion movie has been formally announced. The important distinction for fans is that Jackson is talking about interest and rights discussions, not a finished studio slate. For anyone deciding how closely to follow the next wave of Tolkien projects, that makes this moment less about a confirmed movie and more about a possible opening in the long-complicated rights picture.
What Jackson Is Actually Saying
Jackson’s basic argument is straightforward: the appendices can only support so many movies. Those sections of Tolkien’s work have supplied background, chronology, and historical detail, but they are not the same thing as adapting a full narrative book.
According to Jackson, he would rather see filmmakers work from Tolkien material that gives them more substance to build from. He specifically pointed to The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales as examples of books that contain stories he believes could work on screen.
That is a meaningful shift in tone because those books have historically been treated as much harder to access for film and television. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been adapted directly. Other Middle-earth screen projects have often had to work around what rights were available, which is why the appendices have mattered so much.
Jackson also discussed the Tolkien estate’s past resistance to additional adaptations, especially during the period when Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and editor of many posthumous works, had major influence over the author’s legacy. Rather than treat that history as a solved issue, the safer reading is this: Jackson believes the current estate leadership may be more willing to talk than earlier stewards were.
That still leaves a long road between “talking” and “movie in production.” Rights deals can be narrow, slow, and specific. Even if Warner Bros. and Jackson’s team are having productive conversations, no public announcement has established that The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales is officially headed to theaters.
The Silmarillion Illustrated Edition
The Silmarillion is the most direct way to understand the older myths, ancient wars, and First Age stories behind Jackson’s comments. The illustrated edition is especially useful for readers who want Tolkien’s own visual framing alongside the text.
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Why The Silmarillion Is Such a Big Deal
For casual moviegoers, The Silmarillion is not simply “another Lord of the Rings book.” It is denser, older in scope, and more mythic than the trilogy that made Jackson’s films a global phenomenon. It reaches into the creation myths, ancient wars, doomed kingdoms, and legendary figures that sit behind the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
That is why the idea is exciting and risky at the same time. A filmmaker would not be adapting a clean quest story with a fellowship, a ring, and a clear road to Mordor. The Silmarillion is closer to a sweeping mythological history, with multiple eras and stories that could each demand a different approach.
Unfinished Tales is a different kind of challenge. It contains expanded and incomplete material connected to Númenor, Middle-earth, and characters or events that intersect with better-known stories. For a studio, that could be useful because it offers more direct bridges to familiar parts of the franchise. For purists, it also raises the question of how much invention would be required to turn fragments and expanded lore into a feature film.
That is the practical fan question at the center of all this: more Tolkien material does not automatically mean better Tolkien movies. The stronger the source material, the higher the expectations.
The Confirmed Movies Come First
Before any possible Silmarillion-era project, Warner Bros. and New Line have more immediate Middle-earth business.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is currently dated for December 17, 2027. Andy Serkis is attached to direct and return as Gollum, with Jackson involved as a producer. The project is expected to draw from the period around Gandalf and Aragorn’s search for Gollum, a story thread connected to the events leading into The Fellowship of the Ring.
A second film, The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, has also been discussed publicly. Stephen Colbert is involved as a writer alongside established Lord of the Rings film veterans, including Philippa Boyens. The film has been described as drawing from early Fellowship material that Jackson’s original trilogy did not fully adapt, though a firm release date has not been publicly confirmed.
| Project | Status | What Readers Should Know |
|---|---|---|
| The Hunt for Gollum | Dated for December 17, 2027 | The next major theatrical Middle-earth film currently on the calendar. |
| Shadow of the Past | Announced, with no firm public release date | Expected to come after The Hunt for Gollum, with Stephen Colbert involved as a writer. |
| Potential Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales projects | Not officially announced | Jackson has expressed interest and discussed rights conversations, but no completed deal has been confirmed publicly. |
That order matters. Warner Bros. does not need to solve the future of every Tolkien book immediately. The studio first has to prove that audiences still want a theatrical Middle-earth franchise outside the exact storylines Jackson adapted in the 2000s and 2010s.
The Fan Trust Problem
Jackson’s name still carries enormous weight with Lord of the Rings fans. The original trilogy remains the standard by which most fantasy films are judged. At the same time, the Hobbit trilogy left a more divided legacy, in part because viewers felt the shorter book had been stretched into too much movie.
That history is why the phrase “more Lord of the Rings movies” can produce two reactions at once. Some fans want Jackson and his collaborators to return because they understand the tone, scale, and visual language of Middle-earth better than almost anyone in Hollywood. Others worry that the franchise could become a familiar brand mined for content, especially if the stories get thinner or more dependent on nostalgia.
The Silmarillion would sharpen that debate. It contains some of Tolkien’s most powerful material, but it is not built like a modern franchise installment. Adapting it well would likely require choosing specific stories rather than trying to compress the entire book into one conventional blockbuster arc.
For readers deciding whether to catch up on the books before the next movie cycle, the practical path is simple: start with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings if you have not read them, then move to The Silmarillion only if you want the deeper mythic background. Unfinished Tales is best treated as an expansion for readers already comfortable with Tolkien’s world.
Unfinished Tales Illustrated Edition
Unfinished Tales is best for readers who already know the main story and want expanded material on Númenor, Gandalf, and the wider history around The Lord of the Rings. The illustrated edition adds visual context without replacing the book’s archival, fragmentary nature.
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What This Means For Middle-earth On Screen
The clearest takeaway is that Warner Bros. and Jackson are not treating The Hunt for Gollum as a one-off curiosity. The studio has a visible interest in keeping Middle-earth active on the big screen, while Amazon continues to occupy its own television lane with The Rings of Power.
But the most interesting part of Jackson’s comments is not simply that he wants more movies. It is that he seems to want access to richer Tolkien texts instead of continuing to work around the edges of the same appendices. If a rights agreement ever opens the door to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or related material, the creative ceiling gets higher. So does the risk.
For now, fans should treat the situation as promising but unsettled. The Hunt for Gollum has a date. Shadow of the Past is in the pipeline without a confirmed release window. Anything beyond that, including a possible move toward The Silmarillion, remains dependent on rights, development choices, and the studio’s confidence that audiences still want to keep returning to Middle-earth.
Jackson may be ready for something meatier. The question is whether the estate, the studio, and the audience all end up in the same place.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
This boxed set covers the main reading path for anyone returning to Middle-earth before the next film cycle. It gives readers The Hobbit and the full Lord of the Rings trilogy in one matching set.
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