It’s a big day for Stephen Colbert, and, well, all fans of The Lord of the Rings (LoTR) who love Stephen Colbert.
On March 25, in honor of Tolkien Reading Day and what has canonically been recognized as the day the One Ring was destroyed, Warner Bros. released a video announcing the upcoming additions to the LoTR franchise.
Jackson hopped on a video call with Colbert, whose office background featured several memorabilia from the franchise.
“You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me,” Colbert told Jackson. “But the thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in [The Fellowship of the Ring] that ya’ll never developed into the first movie back in the day.”
The late-night host went on to explain that he’s adapting chapters three through eight of FotR, with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and screenwriter Philippe Boyens also working on the script.
Colbert is referring to the chapters “Three is a Company” up to “Fog on the Barrow-downs,” which features Frodo’s travels leaving the Shire up until meeting the mysterious being Tom Bombadil and before they enter the town of Bree, where they meet Aragorn for the first time.
The film, titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, will follow Samwise Gamgee’s daughter Elanor as she uncovers a “long-buried secret” that could explain “why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it began,” according to its official logline.
Towards the end of the video, Jackson jokingly asked if Colbert would have enough time to work on the script. “It turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer,” the comedian joked back, referencing how The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will be coming to an end this May. “So if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta finish a television show, and then I’m gonna write a movie script, but I will see you all in the Shire.”
In the same video, Jackson also discussed Andy Serkis’ The Hunt for Gollum, which is set to release in 2027. The film will center on Aragorn’s quest to capture Gollum in between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, with Serkis and Elijah Wood returning to reprise their roles as Gollum and Frodo Baggins respectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stephen Colbert’s upcoming Middle-earth film is titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past. Announced on Tolkien Reading Day, the film adapts early chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring that were excluded from Peter Jackson’s original trilogy.
Colbert is adapting Chapters 3 through 8 of The Fellowship of the Ring (“Three is Company” to “Fog on the Barrow-downs”). This storyline covers Frodo’s journey leaving the Shire, including the encounter with Tom Bombadil before reaching Bree.
The screenplay is co-written by late-night host Stephen Colbert, his son and screenwriter Peter McGee, and veteran Lord of the Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens, with director Peter Jackson collaborating on the project development.
According to the logline, the film follows Samwise Gamgee’s daughter, Elanor, as she uncovers a long-buried secret regarding the War of the Ring, reframing early events between the Shire and Bree.
Warner Bros. is also developing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, directed by and starring Andy Serkis as Gollum alongside Elijah Wood returning as Frodo Baggins. The film is set for release in 2027.
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