James McAvoy and The Silmarillion

[RoyalTailor]

I just read over on ComicBookMovie.com that James McAvoy has an interest in playing Gandalf in "The Silmarillion" which is the prequel to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings saga. Below I quote from CBM.com

“I’d like to play Gandalf,” said McAvoy, laughing. “It’s called The Silmarillion! It’s a collection of poems and songs that chart the ancient history of Middle-earth. My true geek is coming to the fore, but they’re really, really beautiful stories. In part of that is the genesis of Gandalf, or Mithrandir, or Stormcrow, or any of his many, many names. Anyway, maybe that’s the one!”

While a "The Silmarillion" movie would be a beautiful thing to behold I fear the chances of it getting made are rather small because it would require a very big budget but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong. I remember reading over on Jackson's Facebook page that the third film in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy will be a prequel within a prequel in that it's actually based off of The Silmarillion.

Nonetheless, I think that The Silmarillion would do far better as an anime TV series because the book is very episodic in it's structure and story. I really loved Cartoon Network's ThunderCats 2011 reboot and I think that a studio like Studio 4°C or AIC ASTA/Aniplex would be the absolute perfect choice to create a Silmarillion anime TV series.

[Vidocq]

It seems like he was just saying it as a joke.

[Alex]

That would be either a really artsy movie destined to fail, or an amazing job of rewriting something to make it into a movie.

[Surtur]

I'm confused since I thought Gandalf always looked like an old dude. To me Gandalf will always be Ian McKellan.

[RoyalTailor]

I'm confused since I thought Gandalf always looked like an old dude. To me Gandalf will always be Ian McKellan.

I agree. Gandalf and McKellan are truly inseparable much like Spock and Nimoy although Zachary Quinto is growing upon me. I don't know if it was just my eyes or something but Gandalf looked a bit more spry in The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey.

@Alex, ditto. That's pretty much how I feel about it. If there is to be a The Silmarillion movie it would quite interesting and tantalizing to see either Guillermo Del Toro or Andrew Adamson involved with Peter Jackson in the production because I think they have a unique talent and magical vision which they bring to the table.

However, what do you guys think of an animated anime styled Silmarillion adaption?

[Gryphon]

Tolkien's heirs wont sell the rights so its pointless.

[FanboyStranger]

I'm confused since I thought Gandalf always looked like an old dude. To me Gandalf will always be Ian McKellan.

That's because he always was. He came to Middle Earth cloaked in the form of an old man. He doesn't appear in the Simarillion unless you count a mention of Olorin, a Maiar of Nienna, the embodiment of mercy.

There's parts of the Simarillion that could make could make good movies like Beren and Luthien and the story of Turin Turambar, but the only way you could really cover the whole thing in a satisifying manner would be as mini-series.

[RoyalTailor]

That's because he always was. He came to Middle Earth cloaked in the form of an old man. He doesn't appear in the Simarillion unless you count a mention of Olorin, a Maiar of Nienna, the embodiment of mercy.

There's parts of the Simarillion that could make could make good movies like Beren and Luthien and the story of Turin Turambar, but the only way you could really cover the whole thing in a satisifying manner would be as mini-series.

Isn't Gandalf in the book "Unfinished Tales"? I ask because I saw Gandalf on the cover of the book in Books A Million the other day but I haven't read it yet.

[Alex]

I would very much be against the pillars of western fantasy done in an anime style.
Personaly.

[Personamanx]

A film adaptation of the Silmarillion would be a great sleeping aide.

[FanboyStranger]

Isn't Gandalf in the book "Unfinished Tales"? I ask because I saw Gandalf on the cover of the book in Books A Million the other day but I haven't read it yet.

Yes, in the parts dealing with the Third Age and the essay "The Istari", which deals with the five wizards who came to Middle Earth in the middle of the Third Age. He does not appear in the alternate versions of Tuor's journey to Gondolin or the full draft of "Narn I Hin Hurin", the material specific to the First Age in The Unfinished Tales, because he was a Maiar in Valinor named Olorin. The Simarillion deals exclusively with the First Age with the addition of the Akallabeth (downfall of Numenor/line of Elros/Dunedain) for the Second Age and an essay called "Of Rings of Power and the Third Age" which ties the events of the Third Age culminating in LotR with the events of the First Age.

[RoyalTailor]

Yes, in the parts dealing with the Third Age and the essay "The Istari", which deals with the five wizards who came to Middle Earth in the middle of the Third Age. He does not appear in the alternate versions of Tuor's journey to Gondolin or the full draft of "Narn I Hin Hurin", the material specific to the First Age in The Unfinished Tales, because he was a Maiar in Valinor named Olorin. The Simarillion deals exclusively with the First Age with the addition of the Akallabeth (downfall of Numenor/line of Elros/Dunedain) for the Second Age and an essay called "Of Rings of Power and the Third Age" which ties the events of the Third Age culminating in LotR with the events of the First Age.

Thanks for filling me in man! I really appreciate it. However, I wonder since the third film in The Hobbit will deal with the material in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales according to Peter Jackson's Facebook updates won't that rule out the possibility for a Silmarillion movie?

[idlewildered]

Thanks for filling me in man! I really appreciate it. However, I wonder since the third film in The Hobbit will deal with the material in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales according to Peter Jackson's Facebook updates won't that rule out the possibility for a Silmarillion movie?

the silmarillion is massive. no way a section in one film will anywhere near cover it.

[FanboyStranger]

Thanks for filling me in man! I really appreciate it. However, I wonder since the third film in The Hobbit will deal with the material in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales according to Peter Jackson's Facebook updates won't that rule out the possibility for a Silmarillion movie?

There are bits and pieces from the essay "Of Rings of Power and the Third Age" in The Hobbit already, but it's mostly things that could be gleaned from the appendices of LotR in a more linear narrative form. Unfinished Tales has a fragment called "The Quest for Erebor" that looks at the events leading up to and during The Hobbit from different angles-- I was actually surprised more of that didn't make the movie, especially Gandalf finding Thrain in Dol Guildor to get the key and meeting up with Thorin on the edges of the Shire which triggers his memory of Bilbo. (The movie has Radagast dealing with Dol Guildor.)

I just don't see how a Simarillion would work as a movie as it's a chronicle of thousands of years that's very episodic in nature. I could see movies for the stories of Beren and Luthien and Turin Turambar, but the whole thing is just too scattered to work as a series of two and a half hour movies. It could work as a mini-series (or even a regular series), but I can't see Jackson and co. turning it into another trilogy without severely doing disservice to the source material.

[RoyalTailor]

There are bits and pieces from the essay "Of Rings of Power and the Third Age" in The Hobbit already, but it's mostly things that could be gleaned from the appendices of LotR in a more linear narrative form. Unfinished Tales has a fragment called "The Quest for Erebor" that looks at the events leading up to and during The Hobbit from different angles-- I was actually surprised more of that didn't make the movie, especially Gandalf finding Thrain in Dol Guildor to get the key and meeting up with Thorin on the edges of the Shire which triggers his memory of Bilbo. (The movie has Radagast dealing with Dol Guildor.)

I just don't see how a Simarillion would work as a movie as it's a chronicle of thousands of years that's very episodic in nature. I could see movies for the stories of Beren and Luthien and Turin Turambar, but the whole thing is just too scattered to work as a series of two and a half hour movies. It could work as a mini-series (or even a regular series), but I can't see Jackson and co. turning it into another trilogy without severely doing disservice to the source material.

I certainly agree with you because I haven't actually gotten half way through The Silmarillion but it is a massive work lol. It's unlike anything that I anticipated it being (in a good way) and I agree that it would have to be a mini-seires as well. Radagast reminds me of Saint Francis of Assisi btw.

Truthfully, I have not read The Fellowship of the Ring in a long time but I seem to remember reading three different short essays on the history of Middle Earth, The One Ring and Biblo's adventures. They seemed to have been entitled "The Red Book", "Concerning The Rings of Power" and "The Third Age". EA Games also released an awesome video game based off of "The Third Age" intro and it is called Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.