RR+: Peter Jackson in talks with Tolkien Estate on additional rights

It tells you a lot of how the Middle-earth franchise is being handled and perceived as of now that a short paragraph from Peter Jackson at a Cannes interview with Deadline does not make the fandom take note that much…

According to Jackson he has been in talks with the Tolkien Estate on allowing for additional rights to film more Middle-earth material beyond the original agreement (Opens in a new window).

This is taken from the Deadline video interview as seen in this article from this year’s Cannes film festival (Opens in a new window) (Peter Jackson On How Stephen Colbert Boarded ‘Lord Of The Rings: Shadow Of The Past’ As Scribe.)

So those rights [i.e. to material beyond Hobbit and Lord of the Rings] have never been able, but Christopher passed away recently … and the younger Tolkiens, the next generation are now running the Estate, and they are much more open to talking. So, the combination of Warner and us have been talking to the younger Tolkien members of the board about the possibility of actually licensing rights to some of the other books. It would be nice to get away from the appendices and get something more meaty, you know.

Not much of a surprise, to be honest, as it was expected that the Tolkien Estate’s policies would change substantially without Christopher Tolkien’s influence.

So…

Deadline at Cannes: © 2026 Deadline Hollywood, LLC

Thanks to Will / Varking (Opens in a new window) for alerting me to this.

If you want to know more about the changes with the Tolkien Estate:

Roving Ranger+: The latest on the Tolkien Estate, Trust and more (Opens in a new window) [Feb ‘26; paywall]

RR+: An important change with the Tolkien Estate & Trust (Opens in a new window) [April ‘25; paywall]

A change with the Tolkien Estate… (Opens in a new window) [Jan ‘25; paywall]

Most importantly:

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