Stephen Colbert will co-write a new “Lord of the Rings” movie alongside Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee. Here’s what we know.
WASHINGTON — Stephen Colbert already knows what he’s going to do once his late night television show is off the air — work on the latest “Lord of the Rings” movie.
Colbert and Peter Jackson, director and co-writer of the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, teased the project late Tuesday evening in a social media post.
He is set to co-write the project alongside Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee. It’s currently titled “The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.”
The longtime “Lord of the Rings” fan talked about his upcoming role while surrounded by various J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired items that he casually mentioned were “part of the collection.”
“The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in the fellowship that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day,” he said. “It’s basically the chapter is three is company through fog on the Barrow Downs. 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 story, which is the eighth chapter of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” also includes a fan favorite character who hasn’t been seen on screen yet — Tom Bombadil.
“I started talking over with my son, Peter, who’s also a screenwriter, and we worked out what we thought would work, especially as a framing device for that story,” Colbert said. “And it took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call, but about two years ago, I did. You liked it enough to talk to me about it. And ever since then, the two of us have been working with the brilliant Philippa Boyens on how to develop the story.”
The movie is set to come after “Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum,” which is in development and being directed by Gollum himself, Andy Serkis. That movie is set to release Dec. 17, 2027. It’s unclear when Colbert’s movie will release, but the story is set 14 years after the passing of Frodo, according to the synopsis and The Hollywood Reporter.
The “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” series have racked up nearly $6 billion worldwide across six movies, according to Deadline.
“I did not think I would have the time… I knew I couldn’t do (the movie) and do the (talk) show at the same time,” Colbert said. “But it turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer. So, isn’t that fortunate?” he joked.
No other details are available at this time.