Peter Jackson has stated multiple times that his Hobbit trilogy will absolutely, unequivocally be his last-ever trip to J.R.R. Tolkien's world. Of course, he said the same thing after The Lord of the Rings, too.
But this time it's going to stick, because there's simply no other choice. At the premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Jackson told reporters why he can't ever return for a third helping.
Peter Jackson said at the press conference the Tolkien estate still owns the film rights to all his writings but Hobbit/LOTR
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) December 2, 2014
nothing else LOTR related can get made without permission/ involvement. Sounds like this is the end of the road even if he wanted 2 do more — Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) December 2, 2014
Tolkien only ever sold the film rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Despite the plethora of story fodder that exists thanks to Tolkien's extensive written history of Middle-Earth, those tales are unavailable to filmmakers and that's not changing anytime soon.
The rub is the Tolkien Estate, as headed up by J.R.R.'s son Christopher. He's Tolkien's only son who's still alive, and he hates Peter Jackson's movies. Quite vehemently. He believes that the action-heavy nature of Jackson's films stray too far from the source material, and he's turned off by all the commercialization that goes along with Hollywood properties these days. Christopher has devoted his life to completing his father's unfinished works, so you can see how he'd feel protective of Tolkien's legacy.
Because of this, he's vowed never to sell the film rights to his father's many other Middle-Earth stories (most of which Christopher helped to finish), including The Silmarillion, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Children of Hurin and more.
Of course, none of this would stop some money-hungry executive at Warner Bros. from looking at the grosses of Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth movies and wondering if they could invent some new stories that take place in the same universe, similar to how Harry Potter's world is returning to the big screen with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (coincidentally, also produced by Warner Bros.). Although at least J.K. Rowling herself is writing those movies.
But let's hope it doesn't come to that. It would dilute the franchise and only serve to prove Christopher Tolkien's convictions right.
