Stephen Colbert has found his post-Late Show job.
The comedian has been tapped to pen a new Lord of the Rings movie, alongside Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee, which will be the second of two upcoming films in the blockbuster franchise. Colbert joined Peter Jackson to announce the news on social media Tuesday night.
“The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship [of the Ring] that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day,” Colbert said in the video (below). “It’s basically chapters ‘Three Is Company’ through ‘Fog on the Barrow-downs,’ 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?
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“And I started talking it over with my son Peter, who’s also a screenwriter, and we worked out what we thought would work, especially as a framing device for that story,” he continued. “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. 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.”
Colbert, a lifelong Tolkien devotee, added that the team at Warner Bros., including Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, also “loved it.”
The installment, with the working title The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, will come after Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum, which is currently in development from director Andy Serkis. Colbert will work with Jackson, Fran Walsh and Boyens — the Oscar-winning trio who initially brought the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to life — on the film from author J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved books.
“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,” the synopsis reads.
Colbert is best known for hosting The Late Show on CBS, but it will air its final episode on May 21 after the network decided to cancel the long-running late night talk show last year.
As for Hunt for Gollum, the cast includes Kate Winslet in an undisclosed role, Ian McKellen returning as Gandalf and Andy Serkis reprising the role of Gollum, in addition to directing the film. Elijah Wood has also strongly hinted he will be back as Frodo.
The Hunt for Gollum, which takes place between The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, follows Aragorn and Gandalf’s quest to search for Gollum to learn more information about Bilbo’s ring, which turns out to be the One Ring that threatens all of Middle Earth during the events of Lord of the Rings.
Zane Weiner is also producing the first Gollum film, alongside Jackson, Walsh and Boyens.
The Hunt for Gollum from Warner Bros.’ New Line division is set to hit theaters on Dec. 17, 2027.
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