this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
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Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (LotR), etc.
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I think we need at least four movies:
The Fall of the Noldor: from "as early as is reasonable" to somewhere between the rising of the sun and the establishment of the realms of the Noldor
Beren and Lúthien. Put the Dagor Bragollach in the prologue.
The Children of Húrin. Put the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in the prologue.
The Fall of Gondolin and Raising of the Star. Put the War of Wrath and the fate of the Silmarils at the end of this movie.
I'm not sure where we can put the Fall of Doriath, but I'd put it in The Fall of Gondolin instead of Beren and Lúthien. I don't want to ruin the end of Beren and Lúthien by ending it with their son and grandsons killed.
This, but split the first into two films. Introducing the setting and the players of the First Age and the Fall of the Noldor in one film would be too much. The first film could end at the Oath of Fëanor or the Noldor receiving the Doom of Mandos.
The second one would end with the realms of the Noldor already established with the siege of Angband in place. The epilogue would see Finrod discovering and befriending the first Men in Beleriand. Otherwise the jump to the following "Beren and Lúthien" would be awkward and Finrod's sacrifice wouldn't have the depth it deserves.
These two films should be "Morgoth's" films, establishing him as the nigh unbeatable force of irredeemable evil that he is. Since he takes a step back in the further tales, these should flesh him out and make it perfectly clear that the Noldor's war against him is hopeless without the Valar.
I agree now that the "Fall of the Noldor" movie(s) has/have to end with the realms of the Noldor in place. And I like that epilogue idea of discovering Men.
How could we make the first movie interesting to a blockbuster audience? Maybe expand on the Great Journey?
I've been thinking since I posted and I fear I might have to split the last movie too. The fall of Doriath, the fall of Gondolin, Earendil's voyage, and the War of Wrath and general tying-up of loose ends is an awful lot to pack into one movie. It's a shame that these are also the stories Tolkien expanded upon the least.
But now we've got six movies!
The first film could open with the Battle of the Powers in full swing. Then we'd take a step back, with a Vala (Mandos?) explaining why this war was fought, explaining the creation of Arda and the awakening of the Elves. Then the capture of Melkor.
The mostly peaceful Great Journey would be a nice break after the action of the war. Thingol and Melian's meeting would also be a critical thing to include. The Great Journey could conclude with the Eldar crossing the sea on the island, then a few thousand year time jump forward.
The elven civilization of Aman is now in full bloom and rhe focus is now on Fëanor, who is already s reknown master of many crafts. Melkor is released on probation and things go bad. The Doom of Mandos might be a better cliffhanger, cutting off at the Oath would leave the impact of Fëanor's bad choices stunted. His "from the best to the worst" - arc would have the maximum effect wirh him ordering the first Kinslaying and betraying his brothers by burning rhe ships in the first film.
I'd say that two thirds of the film should be about Fëanor and Melkor in Aman, with the bombastic war of the gods in the beginning that should have enough intrigue for general audiences.
And yes, six films should be minimum to give justice to the overall story of the Silmarils ;)
The problem is that this will always be too complicated for your average movie goer. LOTR works because it has big, epic set pieces which all connect via a handful of characters. The would-be silmarillion equivalents have a lot of shaky continuity which would require a lot of interpolation if told from the ground up.