[HCIsland]

I agree that the Silmarillian is far too complex to make into a movie. I don't know about others, but when I read it I have to keep one finger in the index (which, thank God, is very good). I couldn't imagine how you could make the thing into a movie, or even a series of movies.<P>The other thing about the Silmarillian is that it is so dark. Most of the chapters end on such a downer that I find it hard to see how you could sustain a reasonable enough audience to make the project economically feasible.<P>What I could see working is to translate just one chapter into a film and my chapter of choice would be Beren and Luthien. You have your two central characters, your love story and your conflict wrapped up in one package. Certainly some backstory is required but is it really any more than the back story required for Lord of the Rings? The other thing that's nice is that Beren's journey brings him to some key locations and characters of the First Age, including Sauron and Morgoth himself. And, he captures a Silmaril, so you might be able to even justify calling the film The Simarillion, though admittedly that is somewhat misleading.<P>Besides, I just love the bit when Beren tells Thingol that his hand now holds a Silmaril. I line worthy of Arnie himself. <P>Another possibility would be to flesh out one of the multitude of great stories that can be found in appendix A of Lord of the Rings. A story that I've always found intriguing is that of Eldacar and the Kin-strife.<P>H.C.<p>[ 12:17 PM December 23, 2003: Message edited by: HCIsland ]