Warner Bros. has revealed that Stephen Colbert and his son are developing an all-new Lord of the Rings movie. The announcement was made Tuesday night via the studio’s various social media accounts.
The video announcement began with “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson giving a brief update on the next film in the fantasy series, Andy Serkis’ “The Hunt for Gollum.” Director Jackson said of the film, which is scheduled to be released in 2027, “Andy is doing a great job. It’s a great finish. The script is very well put together, and I think it’s going to be a really good movie.”
Jackson then teased a “very special partner” who will help develop the follow-up to “The Hunt for Gollum,” “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.” That partner is none other than “Late Show host” Colbert, whom Jackson contacted via video call. Colbert, an avid fan of Tolkien, then explained that the plot of his film comes from a chapter of “The Lord of the Rings” that was not included in Jackson’s 2001 film adaptation.
“You know what the book means to me, and you know what your movie means to me,” Colbert told Jackson. “But what I read over and over again are the first six chapters[of The Lord of the Rings]which at the time were never developed into the first movie. It’s basically from ‘Three is Company’ (Chapter 3) to ‘The Mists of the Barrow Downs’ (Chapter 8). And I thought, ‘Oh, wait, maybe it’s its own story that fits within the larger story.’ Could we make something that was completely faithful to the book, but also completely true to the movie that you guys had already made?”
The late-night host said that after coming up with the idea, he discussed it with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and devised a “framing device” for the film. After the groundwork was in place, Colbert called Jackson and spent the past two years working with screenwriter Philippa Bowen to develop the script.
The film’s official logline reads: “Fourteen years after Frodo’s death, Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to get back to the beginning of their adventures. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter Elanor is determined to discover long-buried secrets and uncover why the War of the Ring was nearly lost before it began.”
This new “Lord of the Rings” project marks Colbert’s first foray into blockbuster development. However, this is not the first collaboration with Jackson. Colbert had a small role in 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He also directed Jackson’s 2019 short film Daryl Gorn, set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, as well as The Lord of the Rings stars Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood.
New Zealand-based screenwriter Boyen has long worked with Jackson. She helped write his Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit films with Fran Walsh. She also co-wrote Jackson’s 2005 monster blockbuster “King Kong.”
McGee’s screenwriting work across television and film includes such works as “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Outer Banks,” “Jewels of Justice” and “Blue Bloods.”
Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings in the 1950s following the success of his 1937 book The Hobbit. Jackson famously adapted this fantasy story into three films, released in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Widely considered Jackson’s most famous work, it won 17 Oscars, 11 of which went to the final chapter, “The Return of the King.” Jackson also adapted “The Hobbit,” dividing the relatively thin novel into three parts. These movies were released in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
