New 'Lord of the Rings' movie by Stephen Colbert in development at Warner Bros. — what we know so far
'The Lord of the Rings' franchise has another new movie in the works, and this time by 'The Late Show' host, Stephen Colbert. The announcement was made on Tuesday while 'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson provided a quick update on Andy Serkis' 'The Hunt for Gollum', set to release in 2027. "Andy is doing a terrific job. It’s looking amazing," Jackson said of the upcoming film. "The script is coming together really well, and I think it’s going to be a really good film," he added.
The new film is titled 'The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past' and Colbert revealed his movie will borrow from the chapters of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' that didn't make the cut in the 2001 film. The TV personality, a massive Tolkien fan, joined Jackson and said, "You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me." He added, "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 develop 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?"
Colbert mentioned that he discussed the idea with his screenwriter son, Peter McGee, who worked out a "framing device" for the film. The project also sees screenwriter Philippa Boyens tapped to develop a script. The official logline reads, "Fourteen years after the passing of Frod — 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' film marks Colbert’s first venture into big-budget development. He has also previously worked with Jackson, playing a small role in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'. The comedian also directed Jackson, along with a slew of other stars from the franchise, including Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood, in 'Darrylgorn', a 2019 short film set in JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth. For now, all eyes are on Serkis' upcoming film, which is slated to release next year.
