Stephen Colbert to Write New 'Lord of the Rings' Movie
March 25, 2026 
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Stephen Colbert
I’m Going to the Shire!!!
To Write New ‘LOTR’ Film
Published
Stephen Colbert‘s late-night TV show may be coming to an end this year, but he’s still booked and busy … and his newest project is gonna be a huge deal to ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans.
On Tuesday, the talk show host announced — in a video with ‘LOTR’ filmmaker Peter Jackson — he’ll be writing and developing the script for a new spin-off movie … and he’s “pretty happy” about it.
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Stephen said the project will tell the story of a section of chapters from “The Fellowship of the Ring” — specifically Chapters 3 through 8 — that were omitted from the 2001 film.
He told Peter … “You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me, 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.”
Being a superfan … Colbert stressed he wanted to “make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies.”
The comedian mentioned he brainstormed the idea with his son Peter — who is a screenwriter — before pitching the film, saying … “It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call.”
Jackson joked about ‘The Late Show’ cancelation … quipping he was worried Stephen would be too busy hosting the program to take on the project.
Stephen responded … “It turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer.”
According to Deadline, the new project is tentatively titled “The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past,” with Stephen joining forces with ‘LOTR’ alums Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee to pen the script.
