New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie From Stephen Colbert in Development

The video announcement opened with “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson giving a quick update about the next film in the fantasy franchise: Andy Serkis’ “The Hunt for Gollum.” Jackson said of the project, which is set for release in 2027, “Andy is doing a terrific job. It’s looking amazing. The script is coming together really well and I think it’s going to be a really good film.”

Jackson then teased his “very special partner,” who will help develop the next film after “The Hunt for Gollum,” titled “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.” That partner was none other than “The Late Show Host” Colbert, who Jackson patched in through a video call. Colbert, a vocal Tolkien fanatic, then explained that the plot of his movie will come from chapters of “The Fellowship of the Ring” that didn’t make it into Jackson’s 2001 adaptation.

“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. It’s basically the chapter ‘Three is Company’ [Chapter III] through ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs’ [Chapter VIII]. And 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?’”

The late-night host said that after coming up with this idea, he discussed it with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and worked out a “framing device” for the film. After the groundwork was laid, Colbert called Jackson, and over the last two years, they’ve worked with screenwriter Philippa Boyens to develop a script.

The film’s official logline reads, “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.”

This new “Lord of the Rings” project marks Colbert’s first foray into blockbuster development. However, it is not his first collaboration with Jackson. Colbert had a small role in 2013’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” He also directed Jackson, as well as “Lord of the Rings” stars Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood, the 2019 short film “Darrylgorn,” which is set in JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

New Zealand-based screenwriter Boyens has a long history working with Jackson. She helped pen his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “fHobbit” films, along with Fran Walsh. She also co-wrote Jackson’s 2005 monster epic “King Kong.”

McGee’s writing credits, spanning TV and film, include work on “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Outer Banks,” “The Righteous Gemstones” and “Blue Bloods.”

Tolkien penned “The Lord of the Rings” in the 1950s after the success of his 1937 book, “The Hobbit.” Jackson famously adapted the fantasy saga into three films, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Widely considered to be Jackson’s most celebrated work, they earned 17 Oscars, with 11 of those going to the final chapter, “The Return of the King.” Jackson also adapted “The Hobbit,” splitting the comparatively slim novel into three parts. Those movies were released in 2012, 2013 and 2014.