Peter Jackson says Lord of the Rings movies based on Silmarillion are finally possible

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Published May 15, 2026, 10:58 AM EDT

Could we finally get an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's other works?

A bedraggled Aragorn stands in a forest, holding a lit torch in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Director Peter Jackson has spent decades bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novels, such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, to the silver screen. Jackson's previous venture into Middle-earth, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, was widely considered his final trip. (He's involved in Andy Serkis' upcoming The Hunt for Gollum, but only as a producer.) However, in an interview with Deadline, Jackson now says he's circling another The Lord of the Rings movie based on a story by J.R.R. Tolkien that's never been adapted before.

Referencing Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R.' son, who both oversaw the editing and publication of works such as The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, as well as acted as the guardian of his father's work, Jackson told Deadline that there is “a lot more Tolkien writing that would actually make great movies.”

Unfortunately for Jackson and fans champing at the bit for more Tolkien on-screen, the Tolkien estate under J.R.R.' son, Christopher Tolkien, wasn’t all too pleased with Jackson’s adaptations. Speaking to French magazine Le Monde, Christopher once stated that Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy “eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people aged 15 to 25. And it seems that The Hobbit will be the same kind of film.”

Given that level of disdain for the film adaptations, it came as no surprise to fans when Jackson revealed there would be no more The Lord of the Rings films until the Tolkien estate agreed to hand over the rights to Tolkien’s other works.

However, with Christopher Tolkien’s passing in 2020, it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before the Tolkien estate reevaluated their previous answer. That time is now.

“The next generation [of the Tolkien estate] are much more open to talking,” Jackson told Deadline. “So it’s a combination of Warners and us who have been talking to the younger members about the possibility of actually licensing the rights of some of the other books. It would be nice to get away from some of the appendices and get something meatier.”

(Was that a subtle snipe at Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? We see what you did there, Peter.)

Although talks about a potential adaptation are still in the early stages, this news is undeniably exciting for fans eager to see more of Tolkien’s masterpieces on the big screen. It represents a much more promising step forward for adaptations compared to previous years. Fans of Tolkien have long desired an adaptation of The Silmarillion, a story set well before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Will it finally happen? Only time will tell.

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