If the studios got The Silmarillion, what would be the chances of it being done? Even with The Hobbit rights, didn't they have some problems while trying to adapt the book? Not against it, i would also love to see some of that stuff adapted, and Morgoth in live action, but there seems to be too many things against it.
Either way, if it indeed happened, how should it be done? Unlike the other films, it can't be done in a single trilogy, so my guess is that they would have to focus on the most important stories and do it one at a time, on a whole it could take a total of 6 films, with the 2nd Age as a kind of intermission between the 2 6 film sets of stories. I don't know all that much about Silmarillion, only read around the first 50 pages and know other things due to the wikia, haven't read Children of Hurin yet, so i have to ask how adaptable it is, from a quick look, it seems like something that could easily be done in 1 or 2 movies, Ainundale would need to be a quick prelude, an extended cut could expand it more, of fans had a problem with what was given.
Aside from adaptations, i guess WB isn't allowed to make other films set in that universe, isn't that right? If they were allowed, there's quite a few things they could do, but the problem surrounding Middle Earth is that all you can keep making are Prequels, you can't keep pushing that universe forward, you are stuck in its past.
As for spiritual successors of Middle Earth, on tv we already have Game of Thrones, and the Warcraft movie seems to have a lot of potential, then you also have fantasy franchises such as Star Wars and Harry Potter making a return. There's always the random generic fantasy film full of CGI now and then.
Would like to see a proper adaptation of the Arthirian lengends, The Sword in the Stone is actualy one of the few classics that Disney should adapt into live action, as it was only one of 4 parts in Once and Future King.