Warner Bros. has unveiled a new ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie in development, with Stephen Colbert and his son, Peter McGee, helping shape the project. The studio made the announcement Tuesday night through its social media accounts, revealing that the film will be titled ‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.’ The news quickly drew attention because Colbert is a longtime Tolkien fan, and because the movie is set to follow ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ the next big-screen chapter in the fantasy franchise.
Stephen Colbert’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie details
Variety reported that the announcement came through a video featuring Peter Jackson, who first shared an update on Andy Serkis’ ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ Jackson said, “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.” He then introduced Colbert as his “very special partner” on the next movie after that release.
Colbert explained that his idea came from early sections of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ that did not appear in Jackson’s 2001 film. “You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me,” Colbert said. He added that he kept returning to “the six chapters early on” that were never adapted. “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.’”The late-night host said he later developed the idea with his son and created a “framing device” for the story. After that, he contacted Jackson. Over the past two years, they have worked with screenwriter Philippa Boyens on the script.
‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past’ story
The film’s official logline says, “Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure.” It adds that Sam’s daughter, Elanor, uncovers a hidden mystery tied to the War of the Ring. The project marks Colbert’s first major move into blockbuster film development. Boyens returns with deep franchise roots after helping write the original ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, the ‘Hobbit’ films, and ‘King Kong.‘
