Stephen Colbert is co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced.
"We've got a very special partner that we're working with," said filmmaker Peter Jackson in a video shared across social media at midnight on Wednesday before introducing the comedian and Late Show host via video call.
Colbert is a Tolkien fan — he even had a cameo appearance in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013. He will co-write a new movie with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and LOTR veteran screenwriter Philippa Boyens. Its working title is Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
Colbert said in the video with Jackson that the film will adapt six early chapters — "Three is company" through "Fog on the Barrow-downs" — from The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. These chapters were not part of the first film.
"I thought, 'Oh wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story,'" Colbert said. "'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 said he and his son, McGee, worked out what they thought might be a framing device for the story.
"It took me a few years for me to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call," joked Colbert to Jackson.
Warner Bros. sent the film's synopsis in a release: "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."
Shadow of the Past is one of two upcoming films in the Lord of the Rings franchise. Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum in the films, is directing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which takes place in between the fictional timelines of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Warner Bros. has not announced a release date for Shadow of the Past, but it will come after The Hunt for Gollum, which is expected in Dec. 2027.
"I did not think I'd have the time," Colbert laughed in the video about finding the hours to work on the new movie. But, he said, "It turns out I'm gonna be free starting this summer."
Last year, CBS announced that it was canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, days after Colbert publicly criticized Paramount — CBS's parent company — for paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump over claims that CBS interfered in the 2024 election by airing edited segments of an interview with Kamala Harris. The Late Show will air its final episode on May 21, more than 30 years after David Letterman first hosted in 1993.
Paramount is also set to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a massive nearly $111 billion merger deal.
"If you'll excuse me, I've gotta finish a television show and I've gotta write a movie script, but I will see you all in the shire," Colbert said in the video.
Copyright 2026 NPR
