Poll: Would you watch a Peter Jackson adaptation of the Silmarillion?

thejboy88

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The Silmarillion, one of JRR Tolkien's lesser-known works, spans the length of Middle-Earth's history, from it's creation by the gods to the aftermath of the War of the Ring, and has often been described as "virtually impossible to ever put to film" by a number of people, including fans of the book. However, with Peter Jackson now having had two Middle-Earth trilogies under his belt, the question arises on whether he would be capable of bringing such a story to the big screen.

As a fan of both the book itself and Jackson's other Tolkien films, the idea is certainly appealing to me. But, I'd like to know what others think of the idea. So, if PJ were to try and adapt the Silmarillion, either into a single film or giving it a whole film series (to give the many stories of the book room to breathe), would you watch it?
 

Marter

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Well ... yes. Of course I'd watch it. But after the second and third Hobbit movies sucking, and the Tolkien estate saying there will be no more movie adaptations, I don't think it'll happen and I wouldn't really anticipate it.

But would I watch it? Absolutely.
 

Hoplon

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Given that it's not really a book so much as a codex, wouldn't it make a shit terrible film? i mean there are like the family trees of horses in there and stuff.
 

Recusant

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First, a point of contention: Jackson doesn't have two Middle-Earth trilogies under his belt; he has one trilogy and one novel bloated and distended into a trilogy. That said, the later Hobbit films only really suffered because of the lack of available content; the Silmarillion does NOT share that problem. And it's certainly not "impossible to adapt to film"; it's just impossible to adapt to a film- or to do so well, anyway. It'd be far better adapted to a series of shorter movies. It's thick and dense and I don't think there's so much as a sentence you could leave out without losing something; I don't know if Peter Jackson is the right person to make movies of it (though if he isn't, I don't know who is), but there's a lot of good story there- and enough sex and violence to keep even the Game of Thrones crowd entertained.

Also, consider this: there is (or possibly was) in Japan (I believe) a man (I think; I know very little about the genders of Japanese names) named Naoki Yanase. As the previous sentence reveals, I know very little about him (or possibly her), save for one amazing thing: s/he attemped to produce a Japanese translation... of Finnegans Wake.

Finnegans Wake.

What's more, apparently Naoki succeeded. And if that task can be accomplished, the Silmarillion should be no problem at all.
 

Scarim Coral

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Despite my critizen made toward The Hobbit Triliogy, I'm only saying yes because I am too lazy to read the book (I tried to read The Fellowship but I got put off).
 

Jark212

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Yah but probably not in theaters, but I'd think it would do much better as a mini series, like on HBO or something...
 

Zontar

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Johnny Novgorod said:
After his Hobbit stint? Fuck no.
Pretty much this. I was never a bit LotR fan to begin with, I only watched the first Hobbit because friends asked me to come along, and I only watched the third one because there was nothing else to watch at the time and I wanted to see a movie (it tells you something when I tell you I didn't miss anything by skipping the second one).
 

Wintermute_v1legacy

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Nope. I saw the first Hobbit film, can't be bothered to watch see rest. I think the LOTR trilogy is enough middle earth for me.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Isn't that basically what the entire Hobbit and LoTR series were? Yes the books, yadda yadda. But there was tons of extra fluff and story from the Silmarilion mixed in to everything.
 

Albino Boo

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The Silmarillion is a cycle of legends with limited cross connections between each tale. Its very hard to make an adaption with no cast carrying over from section to another. You could adapt particular tales from the Silmarillion but even then you would to add significant expositional scenes to the narrative. Jackson had difficulty focusing on the narrative from the Hobbit and with something as huge in scope as the Silmarillion, I think, Jackson would get lost in the detail

Silentpony said:
Isn't that basically what the entire Hobbit and LoTR series were? Yes the books, yadda yadda. But there was tons of extra fluff and story from the Silmarillion mixed in to everything.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the rings cover a period of about 65 years. The Silmarillion takes place over the best part of 7000 years. Most the additions in the films come from the appendices of the Lord of the Rings, not the Silmarillion. The most recent event in the Silmarillion takes place 3000 years before the Hobbit.
 

Hero in a half shell

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I want to see a Michael Bay adaption of the Simarillion.

The world is created through the music of the Ainur, or as they are known in the human tongue Linkin Park.

Then out of the darkness rises the greatest evil of all... Morgoth the robotic shapeshifter, who formed his own army by taking the music of Linkin Park and turning it into Dubstep.

Up arises the hero champion "Noldor" (Played by Donnie Walberg) to fight Morgoth, and thus a great battle arises between the cyborg dubstep army of Morgoth and the superior firepower of Noldor and the American Military (because they also appear in this movie... from Gondor or something I don't know.)

Throughout the story Noldor frets about taking his girlfriend Luthien (played by Megan Fox) to the Middle Earth Prom, which Morgoth has sworn to destroy, and Morgoth's constant war and bloodshed for the mastery of all creation is a constant upset to Noldor's romantic plans, creating comic relief.

In the end Morgoth is defeated, his evil second in command swears revenge for sequel bait, Noldor takes Luthien to the prom and they kiss to a Linkin Park song.

Roll Credits.

Print money.
 

Evonisia

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Jun 24, 2013
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Not after the fan-fiction fest that was The Hobbit trilogy. A mostly good fanwank to be certain, but not the tone you want when you're adapting something of a completely different nature to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
 

GundamSentinel

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Aug 23, 2009
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The Silmarillion is among my favorite books of all time, so I think I would at least try it.

It wouldn't work at all as a movie or even a series of movies, but I would watch it, even if it was just to have the world visualized. Same as it was with the Hobbit really. It was a horrible mess at times, but it looked great! (if you didn't watch it in HFR, that is)

Say what you will about Peter Jackson's Hobbit adaptations, but a lot of care and work went into it and it shows.
 

Fox12

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Jun 6, 2013
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At this point I wouldn't trust Peter Jackson to direct traffic. He's been going down hill for a while now, but, for me, the Hobbit films were a new low in cinema. I finally understand how the Star Wars fans feel. I'm sorry, I didn't know!

Is it possible to film the Silmarillion? Of course. You could get twelve films out of the book and still have more then enough material leftover to make classic works of cinema. That little book is staggering. The Downfall of Numenor? The fall of Gondolin? Baren and Luthien? Fingolfins desperate struggle against Melkor, the true Dark Lord?

The question isn't whether the films could theoretically be made, it's whether anyone in the industry is qualified to handle the work. I think the answer to that is no. Certainly not Jackson. God, if we give him the series then we'll just be treated to a montage of Legolas punching god in the face after saving Middle Earth from Melkor. Legolas wasn't alive yet? Doesn't matter, Jackson will work it out somehow. Afterwards Legolas will settle down for a nice romantic hot tub evening with his boyfriend, Jeter Packson, who-

Oh, wait, I think the director accidentally replaced the script with his fanfiction again.
 

GhostZero

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The Silmarillion would certainly not suffer from lack of content like The Hobbit did. No way the whole book would fit into one movie, not even if he picked just the most 'interesting' points either. As a whole series? Possibly. However, if you take into account the decline of cinema and the increase in TV audiences, I feel the book could be adapted well into a series. Perhaps have every season delve into a different 'area' of The Silmarillion.
On the other hand, I'm um-ing and ar-ing as to whether Peter Jackson should direct. It looks like his interest has declined rapidly for directing, as I recall, he only made the Hobbit films after pressure from the studio.
Would I watch A Silmarillion film? Definitely, regardless of how it turned/turns out. Whether it would be a satisfactory experience is another question altogether.
 

Lightspeaker

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It'd be about thirty films long if done in full.

Also apparently a lot of people working on the film were largely fed up with The Hobbit. From what I heard there was very much a sense of going through the motions and slogging away at the job to get it done. With nothing of the same drive. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was a labour of love and passion. The Hobbit trilogy of films was, apparently, about just getting the job done and phoning it in to give New Line Cinema something to put out in an attempt to prop up their awful financial state. And it kinda shows; they're not bad films but they're definitely not as good as the Lord of the Rings.

I'd probably watch it honestly. But I'd be very dubious of its quality. And there's absolutely no way they'd get it properly done in one or even three films.