There is a lot of buzz in the “Lord of the Rings” fan community in 2026. Season 3 of Amazon Studios’ tentpole Middle-earth series “The Rings of Power” arrives on November 11th, and Season 4 should start filming early in 2027. Andy Serkis’ “The Hunt for Gollum” has a confirmed release date for the end of that year, as well, and now we know it will be followed by a Stephen Colbert’s “Lord of the Rings” movie. But wait, there’s more!
Talking to Deadline (via fan site thefanoftherings), Peter Jackson shared that he and Warner Bros. are in talks to license parts of other J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings — namely, “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales.” Jackson points out that there’s “a lot more Tolkien writing, which would actually make great movies” before straight up spilling the beans:
A combination of Warner’s and us have been talking to some of the younger Tolkien members who are now part of the board about the possibility of actually licensing some of the rights to the other books. It would be nice to get away from the appendices and get something a bit more meaty.
What are those “meaty” stories? I’m glad you asked. The truth is, projects like “The Hunt for Gollum” and “The Rings of Power” have limited writing they can adapt before they run into rights issues. Most of the time, they’re working from text in the already licensed “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” books — including some fragmented Middle-earth history at the end of “The Return of the King.” If Jackson gets the rights to adapt the other two books, we could get some more cohesive, truly awe-inspiring Middle-earth stories. Here are five of the best of them.
The story of Beren and Lúthien is a top candidate
A lot of the content in “The Silmarillion” wouldn’t be easy to adapt. For instance, J.R.R. Tolkien’s creation story, the Ainulindalë, is visually hard to depict. His War of Wrath that ends the First Age of Middle-earth is similarly so mythic and cryptic that it would be hard to translate it to the silver screen. But there are other stories that Tolkien wrote that are more grounded (at least relatively speaking). One of the most famous of these is that of the Human hero Beren and the half-Elven, half-Angel princess Lúthien.
In the story, Beren and Lúthien fall in love. Lúthien’s father rejects this upstart mortal, but instead of just saying no, he gives him an impossible task: retrieve one of the three holy jewels called the Silmarils from the crown of the Dark Lord Morgoth.
What follows is an epic quest that includes kidnapping, magic, resurrection, talking dogs, incredibly long hair, and the greatest werewolf in Middle-earth history. It’s worth pointing out that this is also a story where the female character, Lúthien, is front and center and basically the hero who drives the whole story. It would take a lot of exposition to keep everyone up to date on who’s who as you go along, but overall, it’s definitely one of the more self-contained, grounded, and exciting stories of the bunch.
The Children of Húrin could go to really dark places
“The Children of Húrin” is a standalone book that J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher, edited from his notes. However, there are less detailed versions of that story in both “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales.” If Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson can get the rights to both books, they could use them to tell a complete story. The weird thing with this one, though? It would be a tear-jerker that would be tonally off-beat from most Middle-earth adaptations.
The story of the hero Húrin and his family is one of the darkest and most devastating chapters in Tolkien’s entire legendarium. Without giving away too much, the narrative starts with Húrin being captured by the godlike villain Morgoth. When he won’t cooperate with the Dark Lord, Húrin is forced to watch his enemy systematically destroy his family over decades of time.
The bulk of the story follows Húrin’s son, Turin, who is a hot-and-cold fella with hero blood in his veins, a hot temper that gets him into serious trouble, and absolutely zero trust in others. Throughout his life, Turin shifts back and forth between heroic deeds and bitter exile, leaving a trail of kingdom-wrecking destruction in his wake. From dragon spells to battlefield heroics, epic defiance, tragic heroes, unintentional murder, and even accidental incest, this story goes to really dark places that are rarely found in Tolkien’s writings. If a movie ever does get made, expect a little bit more of a “Game of Thrones” experience for this one.
Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin is a feel-good tragedy
While Turin, son of Húrin, is a bitterly tragic story that can leave anyone feeling depressed, the story of his cousin, Tuor, son of Huor (Húrin’s brother), is a weirdly uplifting alternative that runs parallel to Turin’s story. In fact, the two characters cross paths precisely once in the midst of their independent tales.
Before that happens, though, Tuor’s story starts with his being called by Ulmo, a Poseidon-like member of the Valar (the angelic guardians of Middle-earth). Ulmo gives Tuor a mission to find the hidden Elvish kingdom of Gondolin and warn its people of impending disaster. Tuor eventually reaches the kingdom, where the Elvish king, Turgon, doesn’t listen to his warnings, but he does welcome him with open arms. When the mortal Man falls in love with his daughter, Idril, he even allows them to get married, and they have a son who ends up being one of the most important people in Middle-earth history. I’m talking about Eärendil the Mariner, the father of Elrond, a very distant part of Aragorn’s family tree, and a world-saving hero in his own right.
While I won’t give much more away, let’s just say Ulmo’s warning is spot on, and Gondolin gets into some trouble. The fallout of that event leads to more heroics from Tuor and Idril, and we even get a Balrog-dueling appearance from the awesome Elvish hero Glorfindel (who could show up in “The Rings of Power” soon, too). While there is a lot of tragedy in this one, it is much more positive than Húrin’s story, and it even has some cool connections to the larger “Lord of the Rings” saga.
Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife would be an awesome deep cut
There are four major ages of Middle-earth history. The stories I already brought up are from the First Age. “The Lord of the Rings” is in the Third and Fourth ages. There are plenty of Second Age stories in there, too, but a lot of them have already been at least partly done in “The Rings of Power” series. For instance, there’s a lot of background on Galadriel and Celeborn in “Unfinished Tales.” “The Silmarillion” also has long descriptions of the island of Númenor and its kings, and there’s even a compelling version of the Akallabêth (J.R.R. Tolkien’s Atlantis story).
That doesn’t mean we couldn’t get these again, but I think the best Second Age option at this point is actually Tolkien’s story of Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife.
This one falls under the category of a high Númenórean drama. It takes place when Númenor is riding high and doesn’t face any serious enemies. Instead, what we get is a wild love triangle between the long-lived prince Aldarion, the woman Erendis, and the sea. Yes, the sea, as in the ocean. The calling of the sea draws Aldarion away on important voyages, some of which last a decade or more at a time. He and Erendis fall in love, get married, and have a daughter, but eventually, the sea longing proves too strong, and the couple becomes estranged. This is the most obscure tale on this list, but it’s also one of the most interesting. It is another story that’s tonally different from most of Tolkien’s writings and could make for a mesmerizing change of pace when it comes to the fairly predictable cadence of adventure-focused Middle-earth content.
The connection of Cirion and Eorl could be a fun prequel
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” was a dazzling anime adaptation. And while it didn’t capture fans’ hearts in the same way the live-action films did, the prequel was a fun addition to Middle-earth on-screen canon. If Peter Jackson gets the rights to more material, it could also open up the door to a prequel for the prequel in the form of a chapter from “Unfinished Tales” titled “Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan.”
The connection between the Mark of Rohan and the Kingdom of Gondor is a hallmark element of “The Lord of the Rings” story. We got to see a little bit of the Rohirrim’s earlier history in “The War of the Rohirrim,” but this would be a story that shows how the horse warriors of Rohan arrived in their home in the first place.
Before it was called Rohan, the area was called Calenardhon, and it was part of Gondor. When it is invaded five centuries before “The Lord of the Rings” story, the Rohirrim arrive to save the outnumbered Gondorians from disaster. As a result, the ruling steward, Cirion, gives the area to Rohan and its king, Eorl. The feel-good story has the typical bonds of brotherhood, massive evil hordes, hopeless situations, and good old-fashioned Tolkienian cavalry charges in the nick of time that could make this an easy opportunity to revisit the Middle-earth experience we all know and love.
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