The Lord of the Rings: Stephen Colbert is preparing a new film for Warner

The American star animator, absolute fan of Tolkien, is developing with his son a new project entitled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past. And we already know what it will be about…

As Star Warsthe saga of Lord of the Rings never seems to die in the cinema…

While we wait for Andy Serkis’ new film on the hunt for Gollum, Warner Bros. made an unexpected revelation yesterday: a new film from the universe of Lord of the Rings is in development… with Stephen Colbert writing, supported by his son, screenwriter Peter McGee.

The announcement was made via the studio’s social networks, in a video that opens with Peter Jackson himself. The legendary director takes the opportunity to give news of The Hunt for Gollumthe next Gollum-centric film expected in 2027. “Andy is doing a fantastic job. The film is shaping up to be incredible. The script is coming together very well and I think it will be a very good film.”he first assures.

But then the real surprise comes. Jackson then teases a “very special partner” for the following film, entitled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.

And this partner is none other than Stephen Colbert, who appears on video.

A great fan of JRR Tolkien, the host explains that his project is directly inspired by passages from the novel The Fellowship of the Ring never adapted into the 2001 film.

“You know what the books mean to me, and what your movies mean, too. But the chapters that I kept coming back to were those six chapters at the beginning that you never developed. From ‘Three is Company’ to ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs.’ your films?”he confides.

From this idea was born a project that he has been developing with his son for a long time, around a narrative device allowing this new plot to be linked to the existing saga. Once the foundations were laid, Colbert contacted Jackson: they have been working together on the screenplay for two years with Philippa Boyens, already co-writer of the trilogies. The official pitch already reveals the plot:

“Fourteen years after Frodo’s disappearance, Sam, Merry and Pippin retrace the steps of their first adventure. At the same time, Elanor, Sam’s daughter, discovers a long-buried secret and seeks to understand why the War of the Ring was almost lost before it even began.”

This project marks Stephen Colbert’s first foray into pure blockbuster. But not his first collaboration with Peter Jackson: he already made an appearance in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013, and even directed Jackson as well as Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood in the short film Darrylgorn in 2019.

For the moment, Warner has not yet set a shooting or release date – nor casting – for The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.