Peter Jackson has offered the most concrete description yet of what he’s actually seeking from the Tolkien Estate — and it goes well beyond a single film.
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, Jackson elaborated on the negotiations we first reported on May 14, describing his pursuit of “connective tissue” rights — First Age material that would support The Hunt for Gollum and future Warner Bros. projects set in Middle-earth.
Peter Jackson explains at #Cannes why he is not directing “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’:
— Variety (@Variety) May 13, 2026
“The film is about Gollum’s psychological and addiction. I thought Andy knows this guy better than anybody. So I actually I didn’t think much of me [directing the new movie.… pic.twitter.com/eNbmQuQ54d
The phrase is carefully chosen. The Hunt for Gollum is set in the gap between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, a period covered most fully in Unfinished Tales and the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. But the deeper history that gives that era its weight — the forging of the Rings of Power, the fall of Númenor, the long defeat of the Eldar — lives in The Silmarillion and related First Age writings. Without those rights, any film set in the late Third Age can only gesture at the mythology behind it.
“Connective tissue” implies not a single adaptation but an ongoing creative need — threads of First Age lore woven through multiple productions. If the Estate agrees, it could open the door to material Tolkien spent his entire life building: the tale of Beren and Lúthien, the Fall of Gondolin, the tragic grandeur of the Noldor in exile. These aren’t side stories. They are the foundation on which everything in The Lord of the Rings ultimately rests.
The Tolkien Estate has historically guarded First Age rights with particular care. Christopher Tolkien’s deep reservations about the Jackson films are well documented, and while the Estate’s posture has shifted since his passing in 2020 — most notably with the Amazon Rings of Power deal — a theatrical Silmarillion adaptation would represent a new threshold entirely.
Jackson offered no timeline and acknowledged the complexity of the discussions. But the fact that he’s speaking publicly, and in this level of detail, suggests the conversations have progressed beyond the exploratory stage. Whether the Estate ultimately agrees, the negotiation itself marks a significant moment in the long history of Tolkien’s works on screen.
