It's an age old verity that from little things big things grow. So with this in mind, I think the folk on this forum should make a start on BEREN AND LUTHIEN (The Movie).

It's a big project, so if someone's got a spare three or four hundred million laying about, please contact me (then we could get really serious!)

Pending the cash input, what say we begin by looking at potential actors?

We'll need Beren and Luthien, of course. And Sauron, who is not only a fallen angel of sorts, but also a werewolf - is that right? And Huan the Hound. And Thingol! Oh! And don't forget Morgoth!

A suitable Director needs to be found too, of course.

Does anyone have starting suggestions?


Odo


NB I'm not interested in making a "B" Grade Movie. This one is for the Tolkien Purist!

How about Ridley Scott as director? It must be an otherwordly epic...and he is pretty good with striking images and sense of scale.

Luthien....hmmm...how about Jessica Alba? (because Luthien is supposed to be like the greatest beauty of all time (though I always imagined Galadriel was the best when I was reading all the books... ) and...well...you can't get much hotter than Jessica Alba!

The scene I would most love to see from the book?
It would have to be the army of Balrogs (can you imagine that???!!! COOL!!!!) battling Ungoliant!

I was warned before reading Silmarillion that it was very dense and hard to read...but I actually found it really exciting reading. I don't have my old copy of it so I might have to go to the bookstore and buy a new copy and read it again. I love book shopping!!!

If we get the Ridley Scott who directed Alien, Blade Runner, and Legend then I'm with you . If it's the Gladiator Ridley, then not quite so much.

Jessica is Hot, Hot, Hot, and she was awesome as Sue Storm and Dark Angel, but does she have the Gravitas (and the accent) to play such a heavy role? Just asking!!!

GB

I kind of imagine Luthien as tall and fair (including fair haired). But if tallish and dark haired, Liv Tyler would be nice, but I don't suppose one could get away with that.

I must look up my directors! I don't kow Ridley, but of course I've seen some of his movies. (I didn't like Gladiator, GB! Nor Braveheart either - which strikes me as having the same feel to me - so forget Mel both as Director or Actor! Didn't like Troy either - but I'm wandering...)

Jessica Alba - beautiful! But would she be a little old for Luthien? Which begs the question, we know Luthien is old in years, but how old would she look in mortal terms. A girl in the first bloom of full womanhood? Yes, I'm out of my depth here. Whatever the case, please not a Kate Blanchett Galadiel-type. Great actress, poor Galadriel! Made her seem a bit silly!

Sauron (if a werwolf??) could be anyone in gear, but please not Wolverine!! In angelic form? Some tall gent. Maybe the ladies on this forum might be good choosers on this. Must be slim and almost feminine in his beauty, I think. Hmm... just a thought. Angels are beautiful, aren't they?

Beren would require a Viggo type. In fact, maybe Viggo might even be a better Beren than an Aragorn. (Yes, I know we can't have Liv and Viggo - more's the pity!!! I think they would be great for a Purist Silmarillion!)

Who might voice Huan the Hound? Rhys-Davies? Does Huan talk? I can't remember...

No idea on Morgoth yet.

Odo

NB Too lazy to look it up. Did Sauron ever take a werewolf form?

Well we're on the same page regarding the later period Ridley Scott and Mel Gibson then Odo . Still, If Ridley could tap the same vision he had back in the day, he could pull it off.

Considering Aragorn and Arwen are a sort of "latter day" Beren and Luthien, why not have Liv and Viggo fill the roles? Sure, it might confuse some people, but it would be poetic. (Jessica Alba is still quite young by the way ).

Sauron in his demigod form could be played by Tilda Swinton (the White Witch, but also the Archangel Gabriel pulling a Lucifer in the film Constantine). Believe me, she has that androgynous quality. There is also David Bowie, but he is to old for the part now. Hmmm, come to think about it Cate Blanchett might be better as Sauron than Galadriel (she did quite a turn as Bob Dylan, indeed many critics thought she gave the best performance as Bob Dylan in the film I'm Not There which featured 6 actors playing Bob during different periods of his life).

GB

Have just got back from reading the Beren and Luthien tale in the Silmarillion (two thirds through), and Luthien is dark haired! Liv would be great! She's a more mature actor now too. Perfect!

Sauron does turn into a werewolf and gets a thorough walloping by Huan (after a dandy of a battle!)

This would be a brilliant movie. One movie. Four hours should do it. Romance, violence, tragedy, good elves, not so nice elves, balrogs, bats, werewolves, dark lords (two of ém!) - enough foul villains to satisfy even PJ, I reckon.

Must say: talk about romantic power. Daeron loves Luthien and hates Beren. Celegorm loves Luthien and hates Beren. Even Thingol hates Beren. Luckily, Huan comes to love them both! (And of course B and L love each other!)

And as to Finrod Felagund. What a noble Elf!

Checked the bank balance. I reckon I could put up fifty bucks. Only about $399,999,050 to go! (Might have to do some overtime one thinks!)

Anyway, I must get back and finish this tale. If I remember correctly, it's one of the rare Silmarillion stories that has a (reasonably) happy ending - at least for Beren and Luthien! Thank goodness!

The guy who plays Lucius Malfoy to play Celegorm?

The White Witch to play the Dark Lord (Mark 2: Sauron)? Why not?

Odo

NB Oh yes, Huan talks THREE times!

Let's call up Christopher Tolkien and see if the Tolkien Estate would let a few fans have the filming and distribution rights. Perhaps we could then start taking fan donations online and once we had about 125 million bucks (about half of the final budget) we could get a cool director on board and hook up with a (not too evil) distributor.

Let's try not to hire Michael Bay, Spielberg or Lucas though . No offense to them, but they are all too over-the-top nowadays. Very little subtlety left in them (not that Bay ever had any), though War of the Worlds showed that Spielberg still has the vision and the chops when he puts his mind to it.

And forget a crap CGI Hollywood Werewolf, only real wolves for this flick. And what a great role for "Lucius" Odo--good call.

GB

The good thing is, we should be able to include ALL the story, from Beren losing his family (and hunting the Orc party to retrieve his elf-ring), all the way to Luthien's audience with the Gods and the granting of her Mortal life and the return of Beren to life, and their subsequent happiness together on that island in Middle Earth. A great story!

Christopher would love to hear from us, I'm sure. We wouldn't take liberties!

Hey! How could a Producer say no to us? Especially as you reckon we can do it for only 250 million. Cheap at the price. (I only hope not too cheap! We're talking about Tolkien, GB).

Odo

NB Got the Two Towers on as I write, and yes, Liv would definitely be a good candidate for Luthien. Not so sure about Aragorn now though.

Jessica Alba too old??? Has the world gone mad???
I still like my idea for Luthien...if I chip in another $50 can we choose Jessica over Liv?

I've seen Tilda play Gabrielle and the White Witch, and she certainly can pull off an androgynous role! I also like the idea of Cate Blanchett as the sensual fair Sauron. Don't get me wrong, I really like Cate as an actor, but I was pretty disappointed she got Galadriel. But I agree she could pull off Sauron. Overall, I'd suggest Cate.

Are you sure you could fit it all into one movie? Might have more luck selling it to the studios if it were in multi-parts. Everyone's in love with trilogies!

Whatever we do, don't have George Lucas anywhere near the script. He'll kill any romantic scene between Beren and Luthien with lines like

"I don't like sand, it is rough, I like you, you're smooth."

Our financing concerns may soon be over. Don't spread this outside this forum, but I just got a desperate plea of help from the daughter of an ex-dictator in Nigeria who is looking for someone in Australia who she can wire $2.1 billion to!

Well, quality CGI doesn't have to be as expensive as it is. But I checked the list of most expensive films and the top one was 300 Million PotC: At Worlds End. So I'll adjust my estimate up to that. But some of the best CGI heavy films like the Matrix trilogy only cost about 150-160 million apiece.

And even adjusted for inflation the LotR films didn't make it onto the 25 most expensive films list (the cut-off was 150 million). If I remember correctly, by filming them all at once, Jackson managed to keep costs at roughly 100 million apiece. So a bloated budget isn't necessary for a quality production.

And if you're not into Viggo Odo, how about that chappie who plays Wolverine ?

GB