10 Movies That Could Be Made In Middle-Earth After The Hobbit

9. The Lost Road

What's the story? Before the bending of a flat world into a round one, a straight road led to the West and Valinor, the Undying Lands. Now it exists only in visions. Alwin, an academic in present day Britain, has visions of the fall of Atlantis and discovers it to be one and the same with Middle Earth Numenor. From this point he travels through time in visions seeing the links between the likes of the Saxon England of Alfred the Great and the fall of Gil-galad in the battle with Sauron. Alwin realises that he is the Saxon Aelfwine ("Elf-friend") and the reincarnation of Elendil (seen briefly dying in the beginning of Jackson's The Fellowship Of The Ring). Why should it be filmed? Because it's bonkers. While Tolkien's "legendarium" has always been talked of as an alternate English mythic cycle that is set in an imagined pre-history past, it's still pretty enjoyably weird to have a story that actually explores that with a time travelling professor/reincarnated King of Gondor. The Lost Road was a concept Tolkien was obviously keen on, returning to it in The Book Of Lost Tales and The Notion Club (the latter rather oddly set in the 1980s and predicting the 1987 hurricane, which would make a good beginning to the film). It would prove an impressively ambitious concept that would jump the franchise off into other genres. After six films it would keep the series fresh. It's The Lord Of The Rings meets Time Bandits with Tolkien himself as the hero, what's not to like? Why shouldn't it be filmed? Because, frankly, it's bonkers. Producers and financers are likely to be put off by a project that takes a leap beyond the established parameters of the existing franchise and who can blame them? With so many elements in play it's easy to see where someone could mess it up in a big way.