Overview
- Warner Bros., which announced the project Wednesday in a video with Peter Jackson, said Colbert will co-write The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past with Philippa Boyens and his son Peter McGee.
- Colbert said he drew the idea from six early Fellowship chapters that were not filmed, and he will focus full time after The Late Show ends May 21.
- The studio logline sets the story 14 years after Frodo's passing as Sam, Merry and Pippin retrace their first steps while Sam's daughter Elanor uncovers a long-buried secret.
- The film draws on material that features Tom Bombadil and the Barrow-downs, sections long debated by fans and left out of Peter Jackson's trilogy.
- Shadows of the Past is slated to follow Andy Serkis's The Hunt for Gollum in December 2027, with no director, cast or release date yet announced for Colbert's film, and early coverage shows enthusiasm and concern in equal measure.