WI:Peter Jackson had the rights to the full Tolkien legendarium

[AndyC]

Is there anything in the Silmarilion or The Unfinished Tales that could have plausibly been added to the Hobbit films?

Hmm. Not much, really, I think. Well, not unless the scope was to be considerably increased beyong The Hobbit to a wide scope of Lord of the Rings prequel.

"The Quest for Erebor" in Unfinished Tales has background on The Hobbit from Gandalf's point of view (it was a "deleted scene chapter" from Lord of the Rings where Gandalf, following the victory against Sauron and relaxing in a house in Minas Tirith with the hobbits, was to have explained things about his motivations and actions during The Hobbit)

There's a nice couple of scenes from "The Hunt for The Ring" (also in UT) with meetings between Saruman and Gandalf at the White Council in the past - which could be used.

 

[Mike Stearns]

As it happens, I do think that elements of the Silmarillion could be well treated in movie form, but I really don't think that PJ, with his demonstrated tin ear for subtlety, character, the explicit and implicit themes and weaving of plot (all of which can certainly work in a movie medium with a skilled director/producer) would be at all a good choice to realise it.

I do and don't agree. If a Silmarillion film happens at all, it won't be for a very long time, but I don't think it will happen because its too obscure for mainstream audiences. We got Lord of the Rings because the director is a fan who was lucky enough to get to direct a full adaptation of his favourite book, and we're getting The Hobbit because we got LOTR, but I don't think we'll get adaptations of any of Tolkein's other works. They're too obscure and too dense.

 

[Orry]

But just imagine the battle of un-numbered tears as a scene? or how they would depict the kin-slaying.....

 

[mojojojo]

What will happen when Christopher Tolkien dies? Who do the rights go to then?

 

[SactoMan101]

If Jackson had gotten the rights to The Silmarillion plus the related unpublished material, the project--in my humble opinion!--require six to seven movies. And it probably would have cost close to US$500 million to pull it off, given that it would take one film per year for 6-7 years.