Once you do the Hobbit and LOTR, what else is there? You can’t do the Silmarillion, unless you’re going to make it into a two-season TV series at least; way too much in there. Nobody’s going to understand where Farmer Giles Of Ham is coming from. The Unfinished Tales is basically the pre-Silmarillion but with different names for the principal characters. Scrap the extended-edition Return Of The King and bring back the Scouring of the Shire?
My question as well. Of course, they've already butchered the Hobbit and turned its concise sweetness into multiple epic screen extravaganzas, so stand by for Lord Of The Rings II - Revenge Of The Orcs with a multiracial cast and a few gay and lesbian subplots. Gosh, I wonder what Chris Tolkien is worried about?
Yes...and Tom Bombadil!
The Silmarillion is rich in stories. 2 Tragedy themed and 1 Justice themed. Just off the cuff the story of Hurin, until his point of capture, then the Fate of Hurin’s family centered around Turin, good two parter. A third and final part could be the story of Beren, linked through tenative connection to Thingal and Melian.
Paraphrased quotes from how I remember the stories.
On Hurin: “... and his ax rose 23 times and each time a great orc fell, and then overcome, his ax rose no more.”
On Turin: Nienor “Fair well twice beloved and then threw herself into the raging waters of Sirion”
On Beren: “... and Beren presented his remaining hand to Thingol and opened it, but it was empty, for the Silmaril he swore to hold in his hand was in his lost hand lying in the stomach of the Great Wolf.”
“—Once you do the Hobbit and LOTR, what else is there?—”