My own recent (and limited) experience of the film industry had me making an hour-long phone conversation to a Hollywood producer in which I pitched my idea, not unsuccessfully, but having done that I discovered my bid had evolved from the period military drama I had in mind to a comedy featuring women as the lead roles. WTF? (Actually it got worse, I was asked to fund a non-union screenwriter to the tune of $15,000. Erm... No).
Part of the problem is that film projects have to be sold to studios or tv channels with a view to profits earned from release and merchandising. So LOTR had a distinct advantage that it was a book known to the civilised world and thus eventually someone was going to do a quality version of it. But basing a drama on obscure passages in the Roman sources wasn't going to sell, so what formula is going to work? Well, now I know