After months of speculation, Stephen Colbert has revealed his next move. The soon-to-be former Late Show host announced that he is writing a new Lord of the Rings movie for Warner Bros. Once, a return to Middle-earth might have inspired excitement or at least curiosity. Now, the news has sparked concern among fans.
Colbert, who started in comedy, has spent recent years pivoting into what some see as divisive social commentary. Some are already wondering how much of that perspective will influence his take on Tolkien’s world.
Colbert Enters Middle-Earth
Warner Bros. shared the announcement for The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past on social media Tuesday night. The accompanying video features Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson opening with an update on Andy Serkis’ The Hunt for Gollum. Some fans have expressed skepticism about that project, which reportedly covers only a brief section of Tolkien’s original text.
The Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – New Line Cinema
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“The script is coming together really well and I think it’s going to be a really good film,” Jackson said.
After teasing a new Lord of the Rings project with a “very special partner,” Jackson introduced Colbert. A self-described Tolkien fan, Colbert detailed his approach to the story.
“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 of the Ring’] that ya’ll 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]. And I thought, ‘Oh, wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story.’”
That idea appears to have taken root, and the late-night host continued to explore the concept.
A Question of Faithfulness
Colbert explained that he and his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, worked out a “framing device” for what became Shadows of the Past. Over the last two years, they have collaborated with screenwriter Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson on developing the script.
Stephen Colbert speaks at the 2025 Emmys – YouTube, Television Academy
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The film’s official logline reads: “Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
Colbert said the question on his mind during the creative process was, “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?”
Despite the twice-repeated promise to be “completely faithful,” and the involvement of Jackson and Boyens, online backlash has shown little sign of slowing.
Online Reaction
Chris Gore of Film Threat posted on X, “Hollywood has finally found the bottom of the barrel.“
Hollywood finally found the bottom of the barrel. https://t.co/32B1J5KWFh
— Chris Gore (@ThatChrisGore) March 25, 2026
Valliant Renegade, noting that Warner Bros. will soon be under new leadership, added, “Paramount needs to step in, immediately.”
Paramount needs to step in, immediately. https://t.co/lAize5Xpqh
— Valliant Renegade (@ValliantRenegad) March 25, 2026
That Colbert loves Lord of the Rings is undeniable. But passion does not always equal qualification. If Warner Bros. moves forward with the project, the studio may be taking a significant risk. Colbert’s involvement shifts the perception of a project many fans were never asking for.
Ian McKellan as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – New Line Cinema
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Jackson’s original trilogy stands tall. Any new film faces the daunting task of living up to that legacy while introducing a voice whose style and sensibility feel, to some, antithetical to the world Tolkien created.
How do you think Colbert will do with The Lord of The Rings? Let us know in the comments!
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Good news everyone, lame and gay is on the way!
An easy way to know to avoid a movie.
It’s going to be pozzed to the max and full of shitskins. I can’t wait to see racist barrow-wights and a black Tom Bombadil, which fits well with modern American negro worship if you believe that Tom is actually Eru. Goldberry will still be White to continue promoting miscegenation of course. Honestly, if you want to make a shitlib “Lord of tha Rangs”, hire me, I could use the money more than Colbert and if you know how shitlibs think this stuff writes itself.
Gay elves, white radical right orcs, every female character a lesbian with shaved head. Can’t wait for it.
There is nothing so good that wokeness wont make it crap. Not even Lord of the Rings.
With this development, it could be almost as successful as The Rings of Power.
The best thing about The Lord of the Rings is how rock solid and pristine it is. Is so easy to discredit and dissociate any attempt agains the source. They can’t stain it without being rejected right away.
Another mission to destroy white culture to the young. Pure evil, Colbert and co are the orcs, doing the evil bidding of their globalist paymaster in Mordor.
Watching this fail will be far more entertaining that actually watching it.
It will be woke as hell. And of course will have a Trump in it.
I thought Lord of the Rings are already written ??? Who needs liberal lunatics version of the greatest fantasy story ???