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Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced that outgoing CBS late night host Stephen Colbert will co-write a new live-action film in the Lord of the Rings franchise.
The project, currently titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, is the second of two upcoming films following The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is directed by Andy Serkis and scheduled for release on December 17, 2027.
Colbert is writing the script alongside Philippa Boyens, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the original Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, and Peter McGee, Colbert’s son, who works as a screenwriter. Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based WingNut Films is producing the movie, with Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Boyens involved, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The story draws from unadapted sections of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, specifically chapters three through eight. These chapters, which include the hobbits’ encounter with Tom Bombadil and the Barrow-wights, were not featured in Jackson’s earlier film adaptations.
NEW 'LORD OF THE RINGS' MOVIE
Stephen Colbert is co-writing "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past" (working title), which will go into production after "The Hunt for Gollum."
The synopsis: "Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo – Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to… pic.twitter.com/d4yv2eoZFX
— Variety (@Variety) March 25, 2026
“Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began,” reads the project’s official description.
Colbert, a longtime Tolkien fan who had a cameo in Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, pitched the idea to Jackson approximately two years ago. In a video announcement released alongside the news, Colbert appeared in conversation with Jackson and described his long-standing interest in the material.
“You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me, but the thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in the Fellowship that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day,” Colbert explained.
“It’s basically the chapter ‘Three is Company’ through ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs.’ And then I thought, ‘Oh wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story? Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?’”
He then had conversations with his son and went to work on crafting an idea. “It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call, but about two years ago I did. You liked it enough to talk to me about it, and ever since then, the two of us have been working with the brilliant Philippa Boyens on how to develop this story,” the left-wing host added.
The bizarre announcement was widely met with mockery and disgust on X. “Why in the everloving f**k would anyone want Colbert doing this? Tolkien absolutely spinning in his grave,” wrote one user. “Let me say in no uncertain terms that everybody involved in making this should have their arms and legs cut off,” said another.
Others speculated that the franchise will now be injected with the same leftist politics found on Colbert’s show. “WB wants to out suck Rings of Power,” said popular culture commentator Nerdrotic in reference to Amazon’s disastrous Rings Of Power series, which has received intense backlash for woke casting and themes.
— The Comedian (@The__Comedian__) March 25, 2026
A release date for the film has not been released as of this report.
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