Apart from the release of Beren and Luthien, the revised edition of Scull & Hammond's Tolkien Companion and Guide and the History of Middle-earth reissue, the biggest Tolkien related new story is the casting for the Tolkien biopic directed by Dome Karukoski.
Nicholas Hoult playing J.R.R, Lily Collins playing Edith and Tom Glynn-Carney playing Christopher Wiseman (a member of the Tea Club Barrovian Society and close friend of Tolkien).
Good casting, but I'm still quite wary of this biopic partly because of the synopsis:
"Tolkien, written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, explores the early life of novelist J.R.R. Tolkien as he finds love, friendship and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts. When the horrors of World War I envelope Tolkien's life, they threaten to tear this "fellowship" apart, and he questions the very meaning and purpose of his art. Instead Tolkien finds a way to use these experiences as inspiration for his famous works, among them The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy "
I'd prefer a focus on Tolkien in his latter years and friendship with C.S Lewis, but that wouldn't really work as a film though, better as a TV show.
I'm hoping for a reference to the poem 'Crist of Cynewulf ' containing the name Earendel, which was arguably the primary inspiration for Tolkien in creating his mythos.
"Hail Earendel, brightest of angels,
over middle-earth to men sent,
and true radiance of the Sun
bright above the stars, every season
thou of thyself ever illuminest
for ever every season!"
Finally, in 2018 The Bodleian Library will publish Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth as a companion book to their planned exhibition opening in June 2018. About the book:
"The publishing division of Oxford University's Bodleian Library is to release a title featuring illustrations, letters and other material from J R R Tolkien's archives that have never before been seen by the public, to coincide with a major exhibition on The Lord of the Rings author in 2018. Tolkien: The Maker of Middle-Earth, written by the Bodleian's Tolkien archivist Catherine McIlwaine, promises to take readers "far beyond what they know" about the author. New material to be showcased includes draft manuscripts of The Hobbit, Middle-Earth illustrations and paintings by Tolkien, and "letters from admirers including W H Auden, Joni Mitchell and Iris Murdoch".
And you never know, Warner Bros may well be considering Middle-earth anthology films using their existing film rights.