‘Lord Of The Rings’: Peter Jackson Says Early Talks Have Started To Secure The First Age Books For New Middle-Earth Films [Cannes]

Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. have had a very lucrative relationship adapting the works of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s novels with “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy along with using the books’ appendices for things like the anime pic “The War of the Rohirrim,” the Andy Serkis-directed “The Hunt For Gollum” arriving December 2027, and the gestating “Lord of the Rings: Shadow of The Past” (set in The Fourth Age with Sam’s daughter Elanor) with a script co-written by former late-night host Stephen Colbert. However, according to Jackson, they might be getting closer to entirely new territory, The First Age.

During an interview with Deadline at the Cannes Film Festival (where the acclaimed filmmaker received an honorary Palme d’Or), Jackson revealed that they’re seeing the Tolkien Estate warming up to the idea of potentially seeking the film rights to previously restricted material like “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales” after some early talks to gauge their openness to the idea of mining those writings.

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“And then Christopher Tolkien published other Tolkien books, ‘The Silmarillion’ and ‘Unfinished Tales.’ I mean, there’s a lot more Tolkien writing, which would make great movies that were subsequently released by Christopher. He would just absolutely not let any mere idea of a film happen, so those rights have never been available. But Christopher passed away [two or three years ago], and the younger Tolkien, this next generation, now running the estate, are much more open to ‘talking.’ So, a combination of Warner Bros. and us have been talking to some of the younger Tolkien members, who are part of the [Tolkien Estate], of actually licensing rights to some of the other books. It would be nice to get away from the appendices and get something a bit more meaty,” Jackson said of his ambition alongside the studio to secure the rights to that untapped Tolkien material.

Those mostly incomplete works covering the history of Middle-Earth and the elves were later expanded into full books with help from Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien, with “The Children of Húrin,” “Beren & Lúthien,” and “The Fall of Gondolin” being the main standouts (could make for a neat batch of films or new trilogy), the latter featuring an epic battle with Morgoth unleashing his army that includes multiple dragons and balrogs under his command.

You may remember that the Prime Video series, “The Rings of Power,” teases a little bit from The First Age, with Sauron being the betrayed successor to a banished Morgoth (the original Dark Lord from The First Age), and is gathering his power over Middle-Earth in The Second Age via the rings of power and deception, leading up to his ultimate defeat, explored in the prologue to the events of Jackson’s “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

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We ultimately don’t know if Warner Bros. and Jackson will be successful (the director has been teasing his desire to direct “Tintin 2” next), but considering they’re already lined up two new live-action films, it feels like the studio is very much invested in continuing the Middle-Earth franchise for years to come (the looming acquisition with Paramount Skydance could have an impact on all of this, mind you).

You can watch that exchange between Jackson and Deadline below (via Fellowship of Fans).