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Warner Bros. has revealed that Stephen Colbert and his son are developing a new Lord of the Rings movie.
The studio announced early Wednesday that Colbert will script The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past along with series veteran Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee, Colbert’s son.
Producer Peter Jackson revealed Colbert’s involvement in a social media video that introduced a “very special partner” on the film.
“In honor of Tolkien Reading Day and the destruction of the One Ring, we bring you a special announcement,” Warner Bros. shared on its various social media accounts.
“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,” Colbert told Jackson. “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 this story.”
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Colbert said he kept finding himself re-reading the six chapters in The Fellowship of the Ring that didn’t make it into Jackson’s 2001 adaptation.
“You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me,” Colbert said. “But 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.”
“It’s basically the chapter ‘Three Is Company’ [Chapter III] through ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs’ [Chapter VIII],” Colbert continued. “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 late-night host said he started talking the idea over with McGee, who is also a screenwriter, and they worked out what they thought would work “especially as a framing device for that story.”
“We recently took it to Richard Brenner at New Line [Cinema] and Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca at Warner Brothers and I could not be happier to say that they loved it,” Colbert shared.
Jackson asked Colbert if he’s sure he will have “the time” to work on such a larger project.
“I did not think I would have the time. As much as I love it, I knew I couldn’t do that and do this show at the same time, but it turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer,” Colbert said, as The Late Show, which he hosts, is to air its last episode on May 21 after CBS announced it was cancelling the late night show last July.
“So if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go finish a television show and I’ve got to write a movie script but I’ll see you all in the Shire,” Colbert added.
Colbert’s film is set 14 years after Frodo’s death, with Sam, Merry and Pippin setting out to retrace the first steps of their adventure, according to Variety.
The new film will also feature Sam’s daughter, Elanor, discovering a long-buried secret and she is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began, the outlet reports.
The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past will come after Andy Serkis’s upcoming The Hunt for Gollum, which is set to arrive in theatres next year.
The upcoming Lord of the Rings film marks Colbert’s first gig after The Late Show ends in May.
Colbert shared the news with his audience last July at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater, saying he learned that after a decade on air, “next year will be our last season.”
“The network will be ending The Late Show in May,” Colbert said as the crowd erupted in boos. “Yeah, I share your feelings. It’s not just the end of our show but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS.”
The 61-year-old comic said he is not being replaced as host and that the entire show “is just going away.”
“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theatre to call home,” Colbert said. “And of course I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea.”
Colbert said he is also grateful to share the stage with The Late Show‘s band and said he’s “extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.”
— with files from The Associated Pres
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