Update: Lord of the Rings TV Show Rumored to Focus On Young Aragorn [May 16, 2018]

It isn't easy to make a successful big-budget fantasy movie franchise, but Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy beat the odds and has inspired a flurry of similar efforts in the decade-plus since its release. But despite the widespread acclaim for the trilogy, Warner Bros. has a troubled relationship with the Tolkien Estate that grew particularly ugly in 2012, when the latter filed an $80 million lawsuit alleging breach of contract. The Hobbit trilogy was already underway by that point, but the legal troubles stymied fans' hopes of future film adaptations of Tolkien's work - in particular, the posthumous collection of Middle-earth history called The Silmarillion.

The lawsuit was finally settled "amicably" earlier this month, so does that mean that we can expect to see more adventures in Middle-earth on the big screen any time soon? Unfortunately, the chances are very slim for a multitude of reasons - though it's certainly not impossible. Read on for the details.

The Ballad of Tolkien and Jackson

The Eye of Sauron look out at Mordor in The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien himself sold the film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in 1969, reportedly for a rather small amount he urgently needed to pay his taxes. Today, those rights have been passed down to a company called Middle-Earth Enterprises, which is a division of the Saul Zaentz Company.

Despite selling the rights so long ago — and a pair of ill-advised animated adaptations in the 70s — it took four long decades to bring The Lord of the Rings to life on the big screen. Mostly this was due to waiting for technology to make the epic scale of Tolkien's tale possible in live-action. Peter Jackson's celebrated film trilogy was a massive box office success, and scored accolades from moviegoers and critics alike.

Naturally, Hollywood wanted more. After some unrelated legal wrangling over the filming and distribution rights, eventually Jackson was hired by Warner Bros. (who licensed the rights from Zaentz) to adapt The Hobbit into a prequel trilogy. While The Hobbit films fell short of the Rings trilogy in the eyes of viewers, they were still a major commercial success, collectively grossing almost $3 billion worldwide.

The question on fans' minds now is whether there's any chance Peter Jackson (or someone else) could keep the franchise going. Might there be more of Tolkien's stories headed to the cinema? Well...

Ready, Set, Sue

Bilbo towards the end of the third hobbit movie in his fur coat

Remember the "bad blood" mentioned above? Buckle up, this is where it gets complicated.

In short, when Tolkien died in 1973, his son Christopher succeeded him in overseeing the Tolkien Estate, a position he still holds today. Christopher Tolkien went on to finish several of his father's uncompleted works, most notably The Silmarillion - a passion project of the elder Tolkien which was essentially the entire history of Middle-earth in 350 or so pages.

Christopher was less than pleased with the Lord of the Rings films, to put it mildly, stating that Jackson had "eviscerated the book by making it an action movie." It didn't help that according to the Tolkien Estate, Warner Bros. had failed to deliver the 7.5% royalties Tolkien was owed from any and all adaptations, stipulated in his original sale of the rights. So they, along with HarperCollins Publishers, sued WB in 2008 for $220 million; the case was settled outside the court system in 2009 for a reported $38 million.

Then, in late 2012, the Tolkien Estate decided it didn't like the video games and gambling machines that Warner Bros. had licensed based on the films, and filed a lawsuit claiming that WB had stepped over the line with these products. A few months later, in early 2013, both the Saul Zaentz Company and Warner Bros. fired back with a pair of counter-suits, alleging that the Tolkien Estate's lawsuit violated "the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing" between them.

These various cases were finally settled five long years after the initial "gambling machine case" was filed, in July 2017. Neither party seems interested in revealing what the terms of the settlement were, but legal documents related to the matter state that it ended "amicably." That may be true, but keep in mind that these sorts of legal resolutions always put the best possible PR spin on things for appearances' sake.

Now, with that ugly business out of the way... Does this mean Warner Bros. and the Tolkien Estate are ready to join hands and sing "Kumbaya" while raking in piles of cash from further big screen adventures in Middle-earth?

Don't hold your breath.

Next: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Is%20The%20Silmarillion%20Impossible%20to%20Adapt%3F']

Oliphaunts from The Return of the King

An Unexpected Story

Virtually everyone who's ever read The Silmarillion agrees that it is impossible to put on film as a coherent work. It spans thousands of years and a vast roster of characters, yet there's no one plot to link everything together. It's not even a novel; it's a history, detailing the formation of the Earth and everything in it leading up to the events of Tolkien's better-known works.

That said, it references loads of stories, such as the fall of big baddie Morgoth — the Lucifer of Tolkien's universe, and precursor to Sauron — and his attempts to seize power and destroy everything good in the world. Morgoth appears throughout the entire book, making him the closest thing The Silmarillion has to a main character. The majority of his story is wrapped up in his attempts to acquire three magic jewels called Silmarils, and the wars he waged against Elves, Men, and the Valar (higher beings of great power who collectively created Earth) for possession of them.

Then there's the story of Beren and Luthien. You may remember the scene in The Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo awakens at night to listen to Aragorn sing a song about these two lovers. Beren was a man, Luthien was an elf (sound familiar?), and their star-crossed romance is genuinely epic in and of itself.

The book's greatest hero is probably Hurin, a legendary champion of men — whose story Christopher Tolkien would later expand upon in the standalone novel, The Children of Hurin — and the curse placed on his family by Morgoth after Hurin's many exploits.

There's much, much more contained within the pages of The Silmarillion; this barely scratches the surface. Anyone attempting to turn the entire history of Middle-earth into a series of movies would be undertaking an unimaginably huge commitment.

But with so much material to draw from, why not break things up by individual stories and make movies out of them, one at a time? There's probably enough story in the conflict between Morgoth and the Valar for an entire trilogy. Beren and Luthien's story would make a perfect standalone flick. Countless other tales in the book would work as epic fantasy films, too. And there's no doubt Warner Bros. would love to keep churning out money-making movies set in Middle-earth for years to come.

A Snowball's Chance...?

Finale battle from The Return of the King

So what's standing in the way of The Silmarillion's many stories coming to a theater near you? Christopher Tolkien. At this point, it would take an act of God to convince the son of J.R.R. to sell the film rights to any of his father's remaining works.

However... There's still one more wrinkle to this twisted tale.

Christopher Tolkien is in his 90s. Forgive the insensitivity, but if we're being purely pragmatic about things, it's impossible to ignore that he's not going to live forever. Whenever Christopher shrugs off this mortal coil, someone new will be needed to take over the Tolkien Estate — and it's possible that that someone may have more tolerant views of Hollywood and the film industry.

Enter Simon Tolkien. As Christopher's oldest son, it's logical to assume that he's next in line to inherit the family Estate. And as it happens, Simon Tolkien — already a successful novelist in his own right — is on record as being a strong supporter of Peter Jackson's movies. He sees them as something the Estate should embrace, thanks to the new generation that's discovered the books thanks to the films.

Simon is so vocal about his support, in fact, that a few years back, it led to a schism between him and his father, during which Christopher actually disowned his own son. (If nothing else, that proves just how strong Christopher's feelings are about the sanctity of his father's work).

Fortunately, their story has a happy ending. Christopher and Simon have reportedly had a reconciliation in the years since their falling out. But one has to assume that they've merely "agreed to disagree," as neither of them have changed their views about film adaptations. Could Simon someday be the one to license the film rights to more Tolkien works to a Hollywood studio (presumably Warner Bros.)?

Don't get your hopes up just yet. There are a lot of unknowns in this scenario. There's no law or rule stating that Simon is definitely next in line to take over the Tolkien Estate; Christopher could just as easily choose to entrust its future to another professional employed there, or to one of its Trustees, or a different member of the Tolkien family. There's no way of knowing until it happens. And even if Simon is offered the job of overseeing the Tolkien Estate, who knows if he would even want it?

So if Simon is asked to take over, and if he says yes, then it's conceivable that he might someday loosen the Estate's stranglehold on the film rights to the rest of the Tolkien catalog. But that's a big if, and it's a long way off.

In the meantime, don't expect to see Middle-earth on the big screen again any time soon.

Next: Lord of the Rings Lawsuit Settled by Tolkien Estate & Warner Bros.