Thread: Silmarillion, The Movie
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I'll fork over 17,000 Mithril if you promise not to add or delete a single jot or tittle.
Deal!
*grabs mithril kindly donated by easily gullible PTers and boards plane to Rio de Janeiro*
No, seriously, if I can ever get the resources, I would definitely make a film from at least one of the tales in the Silmarillion. As well as several other films, like the Prydain Chronicles, all that they would need would be a faithful and loving touch, and they'd be top movie of the year.
*grabs mithril kindly donated by easily gullible PTers and boards plane to Rio de Janeiro*
*thorin having heard of Vir's treachery, swings his axe in the air, shouts 'death to virumor', and boards the next plane to Rio de Janeiro*
But, well, I wish you luck, you'd need it! 
I began adapting The Silmarillion after seeing the LOTR trilogy. Those films didn't just blow my mind. They were rich and detailed and brought the books to life in away that many readers imagined them. Jackson saw the dark nature of the book. The Silmarillion of course is much darker.
In thinking about how to adapt the Silmarillion, I thought about what was central to the book. Therefore, I have left out the Creation, the Downfall and the History of the RIngs and concentrated solely on the Quenta Silmarillion. What interestests me about this is the tragic history of the Elves and in particular, the history of one family. All else is secondary to that. It must be so that as viewers we can relate to the films' central characters.
My three proposed films are as follows: Pt1: The Return of the Noldor, Pt2: The Quest of the Silmarils and Pt3: The War of Wrath.
Part 1 begins with a prologue much like the LOTR trilogy did. In this, Feanor and his family are introduced and the Silmarils are made. The prologue ends with Feanor swearing his oath to retrieve the Silmarils from Morgoth. The rest of the film shows the Flight of the Noldor, right through to the Battle of Sudden Flame and the fight between Fingolfin and Morgoth.
Part 2 is the story of Beren and Luthien. Not only is this a much loved story from the book but it is integral to the trilogy as a whole. It links Parts 1 and 3.
Part 3 begins with the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, a long battle sequence which would make the Battle of the Pelennor Fileds look like a pillow fight between two old women. The aftermath of the battle shows Beleriand broken and the Sons of Feanor separated. We then move onto the Ruin of Doriath, intercut with the journey of Tuor. This leads to the Fall of Gondolin and then the massacre of the Elves of Sirion. We then see the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath.
Throughout all the films I have tried to show the actions of the Elves and the Sons of Feanor in particular as being those of a superior race of beings, whose pride and desire leads to their own corruption and downfall. The Silmarillion is about misplaced pride and blind loyalty. It is also an action-packed adventure story.
As far as a film version of the book ever being made, I believe this will never happen, successfully at least. My screenplays therefore are fan-fiction in the truest sense.
Not sure if this thread is still going or if anyone's interested but I'll be glad to answer any questions and read your cries of outrage.
Welcome to Planet-Tolkien. 
Your method of splitting the Sil into three parts is interesting; though I still think it will be hard to hold each of those films under three or four hours. Still, I wish there was someone with money enough to try it.
'The rights in The Children of H’rin are owned by the Tolkien family via the Tolkien Estate, and the book rights have been sold in a worldwide deal to the Tolkien publishers HarperCollinsUK. There are no plans for the foreseeable future to license any other rights in the work (whether film or otherwise).' The Tolkien Estate
Yeah, this could be fun! Did anyone else hear the rumour that PJ and Co. are actually going to do it in the year 2006 or something?
Ummm yeah.... 2006 has come and gone and I doubt they are still any closer or ever come closer than just rumours floating around.
Plus like you said, all those characters. Everyone in the Silmarillion has a story, or is involved in some important subplot, or whatever. And there's always little snippets of background history or whatever that Tolkien mentions, and those past events very often explain why people said or did something later on.
Personally, I think trying to make a movie out of it simply wouldn't do it justice. Unless the movie was like 20+ hours. I suppose, they could do it as a mini-series, but even then that would be one LONNNGGGGGGGGG mini-series. (Not to mention confusing as heck for anyone who never read the book!)
And Aragorn, what you said about "one story per movie", yeah that's pretty much what I was saying earlier (like 3-4 posts back in this thread). I just happened to use Akallabeth, but I agree 100% that T’rin would be a great movie, as would Beren & Luthien. Possibly the story of Tuor & Gondolin too.
Right now, I guess T’rin would be the most logical choice because of the book that just came out. But honestly, people hate sad endings in movies, so I don't know if that would be such a good choice after all. At least with Beren & Luthien they could end the movie with them coming back to life and settling on Tol Galen, as if to say "And they lived happily ever after". And with Tuor & Gondolin they could begin the story with Ulmo appearing at Vinyamar (ha ha ha, start it out with the gods, just like "Clash of the Titans"), and cover the journey to Gondolin, coming to the gates, etc, all the good stuff that was missing from the Silm, and then the battle & the sack of the city, the escape, and finish with the survivors coming to the sea. So at least that one would have a happy ending too. (The movie patrons don't need to know about the sons of F’anor invading a few years later.)
Anyway.... Yes I definitely think some of the Silm stories could make excellent movies. Do you think we'll ever get our wish?
they could do a series of films like with Harry Potter and Starwars.
Harry Potter duelling with Darth Vader is so uncool. Wand vs Lightsabers... The Force wins!
) and that they will be something worthwile to watch in Friday( for in Australia there's nothing interesting to watch on that day). And if it's really good you can get it on DVD.So yes, a long running Friday night Soap Opera entitled, Silmarillion would be worth watching.
How about this: a long series of 8 movies, so that most of the best bits of the Silmarillion can be portrayed?
MIDDLE EARTH: THE FIRST AGE
1. The Beginning
can start with Illuvatar & the Creation as a prologue, including Melkor and later the awakening of the elves.
also, the life of the Noldor in Valinor, the Silmarils, the oath of Feanor, etc, ending with the coming of the Noldor to Beleriand, the death of Feanor, and the elves spreading and founding their kingdoms
2. The War of the Jewels
all the main battles of the war of the jewels in detail, the coming of men, introducing Hurin & Huor, and Barahir father of Beren
3. Beren & Luthien
starting with the introduction of Thingol & Melian & Luthien, and separately the death of Barahir & the adventures of Beren in the north, then the tale of Beren & Luthien in detail, ending with their return to Beleriand
4. The Children of Hurin
everything from the birth of Turin to his death, based on the Silmarillion and the version in Unfinished Tales, including the Fall of Nargothrond
5. Gondolin
the founding of Gondolin, including the tale of Aredhel, Eol, and Maeglin, and also the coming of Tuor to Gondolin, ending with his first meeting with Idril
6. The Ruin of Doriath
the tale of the ruin of Doriath and the Nauglafring based on both the Silmarillion and the version in The Book of Lost Tales 2, ending with the escape of Elwing and her growing up in the Havens
7. The Fall of Gondolin
This has to be my favourite one.
based mainly on the complete version in the Book of Lost Tales 2, but with adjustments as it is a very early version, starting with the wedding of Tuor & Idril, the birth & childhood of Earendil, the capture & treachery of Maeglin, then the Fall of the City in detail as it is in the Book of Lost Tales 2, ending with the escape of the Exiles, the duel of Glorfindel & the Balrog, and finally the coming of the exiles to the Sea and the meeting of Earendil and Elwing
8. The Voyage of Earendil
starting with Earendil & Elwing, including the voyage of Tuor & Idril, the various voyages of Earendil, the attack of the Sons of Feanor, the childhood of Elrond and Elros, the final voyage of Earendil with Elwing to Valinor, and finally the War of Wrath and what happens to all the remaining characters.
It's only a dream, I know its practically impossible, but it would be sooooo awsome to see something like this
no one can understand what he thought,why he did such things........like scarifice his life for the love between Beren and luthien.......
At least,i cann't understand him at all
I love meeting fellow Finrod-appreciators.
I agree that nobody, and I mean, NOBODY could ever play Finrod satisfactorily. Hollywood would butcher the role and get some blond pretty-boy to play him. And he probably wouldn't even be given that big a role...
Oh well... one can still dream and hope, I suppose...
I don't see how a movie could ever be accomplished of the Sil. It is fragmented and each fragment is so steeped with complexities and grief, unbearable grief in my opinion. I am not sure how much of that an audience can take if there is no happy resolution. In LOTR, although each character in the main suffered terribly and some were mentally harmed as well as physically, there was healing of sorts and there were a couple of happily ever afters to make all the horror and the anguish bearable.
When I read the Sil and Unfinished Tales I get the sense that somehow a bit of a nervouse breakdown or great depression or physical exhaustion attended the author along with the richness of mind and the wealth of comedies he had immersed himself into over the years that came from different countries.
Think of it, Jrr had lost his father, then his mother, then for a couple of years the girl he wished to marry. He then was swept into the horror and sorrow of war, grieved for his young friends who used to have merry teas with him , now gone forever from the face of the earth. How much of all this stayed with him , accompanied him by day and by night, sobered his thoughts, immersed him in certain darkness we don't know. But it seems to have had some influence on his works.
I agree Leelee, I think it's simply impossible to turn the Silmarillion into a movie. It would be better off as some sort of high-budget/high-production miniseries from HBO or something, though even that is shifty.
The Children of Hurin could make a great film. Lot's of room to mess up, but if pulled off it could be epic. I'd see it...
HBO is doing A game of thrones and the author of the books himself is praising it. So it should be possible for LOTR as well.
The current movie industry is too focused on action to be able to present an adaptation faithful to the spirit of LOTR. Even Peter Jackson's was pretty much hit and miss.
The exception, perhaps, is Christopher Nolan considering what he did with Batman.
There won't be movie for The Silmarillion, or at least I think it's very unlikely. The events of Beleriand wouldn't even fit to 30 dvd's with length of 3 hours. And that is a fact.
To Virumor, I actually had that in mind when I was thinking about it. I forgot what the series was called though, I just knew there was some sort of epic/fantasy miniseries in the works that was based on a novel. I think I first heard about it like...4 or 5 years ago though :/
I truly believe that any attempt to make a movie, even 3 or 4 movies of the Silmarillion is destined for failure. Its simply too massive a story to do justice to in 12 hours of film. Peter Jackson only just pulled it off with the LOTR and he had to make massive story edits and changes to achieve his masterpiece/s. I think that a big budget serialisation of the stories from the Silmarillion is the way to go. Well produced 1 or 2 hour special shot on film with best available CGI would be fantastic. Im sure however that in the future some one will come along and try to make a film. I wish them luck as I would hate to see a bad version of any of Tolkiens work go out to the general population.
Oops, sorry forgot about the players....
Liv Tyler- Luthien (Arwen is meant to mirror her beauty)
Hugh Jackman - Turin
Brad Pit - Dior
Cate the Great - Galadriel
Natalie Portman - Elwing
Raife Fiennes - Thingol
Feanor - Colin Farrell
Liam Neeson - Manwe
Hello there to you all. I hope you are alright. I've often thought of The Silmarillion being filmed and after listening to the audio books and reading the theories of what others may think the filming processes should go I feel that if a mammoth film project is mounted it should be done ironically rather similar to the LOTR and now The Hobbit but in reverse.
The intro to the film project should be like The Hobbit when tackling The Quenta Silmarillion filmed as part 1 followed by part two. Part 1 of "Film One" encompassing in Aniulindale as one three hour, three and a half hour film then Part 2 of "Film One" covering the Valaquenta. These two are approached with such films in mind as 2001: A Space Odyssey crossed with certain sequences as seen in Brainstorm with Christopher Walken, elements of 2010: The Year We Make Contact, merely for its epic scope and many other subjects that are relevant to inspire the first section of the book which essentially plays out more-or-less as a musical if you think about it. Much like Disney's "Fantasia".and the "entering of the Stargate" sequence at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The next section to follow would essentially be a trilogy consisting of single three and a half, nearly four hour films that chart events from maybe more ecconomised titling:
"Film Two" Of the Valar, The Elves and Men in Middle Earth
"Film Three" Of Beren, Luthien and the Ruin of Beleriand
"Film Four" Of the Fall of Numenor and the Rings of Power
(These films would all have an Avatar-like sense of scale, otherwordlyness and the like)
Somewhere we see the correlation with the intro sequence of The Lord of the Rings where the Elves are battling and this could encompass from begining to end the entirety of The Silmarillion proper.
The other possible way is to do the begining as one massive film cut into two parts The Quenta Silmarillion filmed as part 1 followed by part two. Part 1 of "Film One" encompassing in Aniulindale as one three hour, three and a half hour film then Part 2 of "Film One" covering the Valaquenta.
Or "Film One" of The Quenta Silmarillion could be filmed as:
"Film One" (part one) Aniulindale
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film One" (part two) Aniulindale
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
_____________________________________________
"Film Two" (part one) Valaquenta
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film Two" (part two) Valaquenta
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
__________________________________
"Film Three" (part one) Quenta Silmarillion
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film Three" (part two) Quenta Silmarillion
__________________________________
And
"Film Four" (part one) Of the Valar, The Elves and Men in Middle Earth
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film Four" (part two) Of the Valar, The Elves and Men in Middle Earth
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
_______________________________________________________
"Film Five" (part one) Of Beren, Luthien and the Ruin of Beleriand
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film Five" (part two) Of Beren, Luthien and the Ruin of Beleriand
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
_______________________________________________________
"Film Six" (part one) Of the Fall of Numenor and the Rings of Power
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length)
"Film Six" (part two) Of the Fall of Numenor and the Rings of Power
(between 3 and a half to 4 hours in length) !
mmmm after re thinking upon re reading your posts I realise that the problem with casting any film from the anals of the Sil will be height and beauty.... Most actors are only average or short in stature and as the average height of the Elves, male and female would be tall by todays standards, and the height of the Numemoreans was verging on 7 feet tall, this could be a problem. Also both Elves and Western Men, as we know are exceedingly fair, producers would need to scour the world for beautiful and tall actors. Could be a massive problem, as they also would need to be rather classical type actors.
Yes but Brego, they made human actors look and appear seven-odd-feet tall via computer generated world of Pandora and rendering for Avatar. So why then cannot the same principle be applied to this enterprise? Seven feet seven hundred! It makes no difference when inside a computer world... anything is possible! Providing the budget justifies it as well, you know...
