Overview
- Warner Bros. confirmed Wednesday in a studio video with Peter Jackson that Stephen Colbert will co-write a new film titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, announced on Tolkien Reading Day.
- The studio positioned the project to follow Andy Serkis’s The Hunt for Gollum, which is scheduled for December 2027, with Jackson producing.
- Colbert will write with his son Peter McGee and long-time franchise writer Philippa Boyens, bringing a mix of fresh perspective and series experience to the script.
- An official logline sets the story 14 years after Frodo’s passing as Sam, Merry, and Pippin retrace their first steps and Sam’s daughter Elanor pursues a long-buried secret.
- The team says the film draws on six early Fellowship chapters left out of Jackson’s trilogy, and reports point to long-omitted elements like Tom Bombadil, prompting reactions that range from excitement to concern as casting and a release date remain unannounced.