New Lord of The Rings film co-written by Stephen Colbert announced

A new Lord of The Rings movie has been announced by Warner Bros, which will be co-written by comedian and television host Stephen Colbert.

The film, which reportedly has a working title of Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, is in development alongside The Hunt for Gollum, which is already set to be released next year.

Lord of The Rings Director Peter Jackson made the announcement in a video posted on X “in honor of Tolkien Reading Day”.

In the clip, Jackson introduces Colbert as a “very special partner”, who will assist in producing the new film.

Appearing via video link, Colbert, who is an avid and lifelong Tolkien fan, said he was “pretty happy” about being involved.

The film is set 14 years after Frodo’s passing, and will follow his close companions Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure.

The comedian revealed a little of the film’s premise, saying: “The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on the fellowship” that were “never developed into the first movie”.

Colbert explained that he felt this part of the original book could “be its own story that could fit into the larger story”.

He added that he wants the new film to be “completely faithful to the books, whilst also being completely faithful to the movies” already made.

The Lord of the Rings franchise, based on the writing of JRR Tolkien, is a global cultural phenomenon.

The final film in the original live-action trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, won all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated in 2003.

Since then, there have been several spin-offs and a sequel trilogy based on Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit.

Colbert worked on the idea for the new film for several years alongside his screenwriter son Peter McGee, before “scraping [his] courage into a pile” and calling director Jackson.

The TV personality, who previously had a cameo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug alongside his family, will be writing alongside his son and franchise veteran Philippa Boyens.

In July last year CBS announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end in spring 2026 after 33 years on air.

The television network said at the time that the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night [television]” and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters.”

When asked by Jackson if Colbert was “sure he had the time” to work on the new film, Colbert joked: “It turns out that I’m going to be free starting this summer”.

There is currently no release date for the film.