Stephen Colbert is reportedly set to co-write the next Lord of the Rings movie for New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures following The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Deadline says the new film is tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past and will adapt material from the early chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring that Peter Jackson’s original movies skipped, including the Barrow-downs and Tom Bombadil.
Stephen Colbert taking on Lord of the Rings
Per Deadline, Colbert will write the film with Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee, while joining forces with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Boyens, the same creative team behind the blockbuster Lord of the Rings films.
Colbert has long been known as a major Tolkien fan, so the project looks like a dream gig for him, especially with The Late Show ending in May.
According to the report, the movie will focus on the “Fog on the Barrow-downs” material from The Fellowship of the Ring, where the Hobbits are trapped by a Barrow-wight in a supernatural mist.
That story also opens the door for Tom Bombadil, a character fans have wanted to see in one of Jackson’s live-action Lord of the Rings movies for years.
What Shadow of the Past is about
Deadline reports that Shadow of the Past is set 14 years after Frodo’s passing. The story is said to follow Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they retrace the first steps of their original adventure, while Sam’s daughter Elanor uncovers a buried secret tied to how the War of the Ring was almost lost before it truly began.
That sounds like Warner Bros. is continuing to mine gaps in Tolkien’s timeline, similar to what it’s doing with The Hunt for Gollum. Entertainment Weekly also reported that Jackson and Colbert announced Shadow of the Past as a second new live-action Lord of the Rings film now in development.
The Hunt for Gollum comes first
Before Shadow of the Past hits theaters, the next movie up is The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Andy Serkis is directing and returning as Gollum, with the movie currently dated for December 17, 2027. Walsh, Boyens, Arty Papageorgiou, and Phoebe Gittins are writing that film.
