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The occasion for announcing the latest news in the world of The Lord of the Rings is decidedly symbolic: it is, in fact, Tolkien Reading Day, the global day dedicated to reading and rereading the works of author J.R.R. Tolkien, held—not coincidentally—on March 25, as it is the day on which the One Ring is destroyed in the novels. On this very day, therefore, it seemed fitting that Peter Jackson, the director and producer inextricably linked to this narrative universe, would update fans around the world on the latest news regarding the film adaptations of Tolkien’s works.
Obviously, the most anticipated is The Hunt for Gollum, the prequel film dedicated to Gollum’s story and set for release in 2027, directed by Andy Serkis—the very man who previously brought the corrupted hobbit to life. “Andy is doing an amazing job. The result is magnificent. The script is coming together very well, and I think it’s going to be a really great movie,” said Jackson, who will serve as a producer alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who are writing the screenplay together with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.
But the main news in this update from Jackson actually concerns another film—the one that will follow Hunt for Gollum. In fact, when Hunt for Gollum was first announced, Warner Bros. had already confirmed that the plan was to develop two new live-action films, not necessarily connected to one another. This second film currently has the working title The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, and the project will be helmed by a somewhat surprising figure: comedian and host Stephen Colbert, best known for his popular late-night show, which, however, will come to an end this year following a sudden decision by CBS, the network on which it airs.
Colbert is a well-known die-hard Tolkien fan: “You know how much the books mean to me, and how much your movies mean to me too,” he told Jackson in the clip shared on social media: “But the thing I’ve found myself reading most often are the six chapters at the beginning [of The Fellowship of the Ring] that you never included in the first movie back then.” The idea, then, is that Shadows of the Past will bring the content of chapters three through eight—which didn’t make it into the 2001 adaptation—to the big screen. As the film’s synopsis also notes, the story of these chapters is set 14 years after Frodo left Middle-earth, while Sam, Merry, and Pippin retrace the early steps of their adventures and Sam’s daughter, Elanor, unearths a secret concerning the War of the Ring itself.
Stephen Colbert will be at the helm of this film, writing the screenplay alongside his son, author Peter McGee, and franchise veteran Philippa Boyens. This isn’t Colbert’s first foray into this cinematic universe, as he had a small role in the 2013 prequel The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and also directed Jackson and several actors from the saga—including Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood—in the 2019 short film Darrylgorn, which is also set in Middle-earth. For now, the new Lord of the Rings film does not have a scheduled release date.
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