Will we ever see an adaptation like The Lord of the Rings again?

The Lord of the Rings films, made by Peter Jackson, are incredible works of art. They faithfully adapted the vision of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved books into something that feels like Tolkien was involved or, at least, that he would approve. Though not perfect, because no art truly can be, they managed to capture the scope and essence of the original story better than any adaptation had ever done before.

I believe we will never have a book adaptation like The Lord of the Rings ever again until creators can answer one particular question correctly.

Whose story are we telling?

Despite the tremendous success of the Lord of the Rings franchise, recent attempts to adapt other works such as Wheel of Time, Rings of Power, The Witcher, and even, The Hobbit have been met with relative failure in comparison. In the behind-the-scenes videos of The Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson says something that, when I heard it recently, really stood out to me. He said he didn’t want to make Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings; he wanted to make Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

This is why most recent adaptations have failed or not been up to par. Filmmakers and producers spend far too much time reinventing the original creator's vision to fit something it was never supposed to be instead of embracing the story the fans fell in love with.

Will we ever see an adaptation like The Lord of the Rings again? I hope so, but not until we can embrace telling the story the original creator wanted to tell.