Stephen Colbert has revealed his next big project after stepping down as host of The Late Show this May. He is set to write a new Lord of the Rings movie.
The comedian and longtime fan of J.R.R. Tolkien will help write a new film currently titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. The announcement was made in a social media video alongside director Peter Jackson, who previously directed the original Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.
Colbert has been a devoted Tolkien fan for years and even appeared briefly in Jackson’s 2013 film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with his family.
According to The Guardian, the new movie will be written by Colbert, Philippa Boyens, and Peter McGee. The story takes place 14 years after Frodo’s departure and follows Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they revisit the early days of their journey. At the same time, Sam’s daughter Elanor discovers a hidden secret that reveals how close the War of the Ring came to failing before it even began.
In the announcement video, Colbert explained that the idea came after rereading The Fellowship of the Ring. He became interested in several early chapters from the book that were never included in the original films and wondered if they could become their own story while still fitting into the movie universe.
Colbert said shortly after he worked on the story outline with his son, screenwriter Peter Colbert, before pitching the idea to Jackson and Warner Bros., who supported the project. Jackson jokingly noted that Colbert would now have more time to focus on the film following the cancellation of The Late Show, which Colbert has hosted since 2015. The movie will be produced by Jackson along with longtime franchise producers Boyens and Fran Walsh.
This project is one of two upcoming films set in Tolkien’s world. Another movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis, is scheduled to release on December 17, 2027, and will follow Aragorn’s mission to track down Gollum between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.
Together, the six previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films have earned nearly $6 billion worldwide.
