New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie From Stephen Colbert and His Son in Development at Warner Bros.

[Barnald 437]

I hate to be the one to post this, but...

 

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

 

It's never been more over, guys.

[Sophie 72]

In other news, Empire Strikes Back was a mistake.

[Mr. Who 1,107]

Here is a video of Peter Jackson and Stephen Colbert announcing the project:

Stephen Colbert is a Tolkien scholar which is the only positive I take away from this news but other than that, this just seems like a terrible idea that would have to retcon the journey of the hobbits in LOTR1. Also LOTR3 had a perfect ending so there is absolutely no need to do some fan fiction sequel what happens 14 years later. I guess WB don’t want to lose the rights to LOTR…

 

If Howard Shore returns to score Hunt for Gollum and this Shadows or the Past movie, that’s one positive which might make me forget that this dross is being made but still this is such bad news.

 

[Chen G. 6,009]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/stephen-colbert-writing-lord-of-the-rings-movie-1236546504/

 

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

 

Okay...

 

So we have a...kind of epilogue-ish movie that flashes back to the "missing" chapters of Fellowship of the Ring? And it's apparently been in the works for a while, so they're probably counting on shooting Gollum and transitioning straight into this.

 

I don't know what to think about this yet. But there is also some Gollum news and confirmations that I like about the video. Especially, Peter promising Vlogs in the style of The Hobbit and King Kong. I'd really like that.

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

More nepo baby fan fic. Good grief. How is any of this remotely defensible by anyone who has an ounce of respect for Tolkien?

[Quintus 6,303]

Well at least Jackson's looking well. Is he dying his hair? Whatever, he looks better than the last time I saw him.

 

The other movie's story idea sounds dreadful.

[Chen G. 6,009]

The other movie, for me, is a bridge that we'll cross when we get to it. Don't get me wrong: it sounds weird as fuck, but it's not in production yet (although it's quite far along: they'll probably do them almost back-to-back) and I shall concern myself with that when it's time for that movie.

 

For the meanwhile, I'm pleased that they're doing Vlogs. The behind the scenes for all of these movies is nearly as much a delight as the films themselves. It might sound silly, but it gives people the feeling of taking part in the making of it.

[Jay 45,771]

5 hours ago, Barnald said:

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

 

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

 

Cremeritis!

[Chen G. 6,009]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

Cremeritis!

 

I literally woke up to the news, so I was a little shell-shocked. 

 

Also, the movie has a working title you could for the thread title. It's "Shadow of the Past."

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

I heard the news today, oh boy...

 

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

[Chen G. 6,009]

Quote

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, and I started talking this over with my son Peter [McGee], whose also a screenwriter, and we worked out what we thought would work, especially as a framing device for that story.

 

So I think everything in the "synopsis" we have is just a framework for a series of flashbacks which interpolate the missing chapters back into The Fellowship of the Ring? That...would still be very, very weird, but if I'm right to read it like that, it's hardly an abominable idea.

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

Anyone else find it somewhat ironic that Jackson made a film about the love of greed and the corruption of "dragon sickness"? I'm loathe to use the term "cash grab", because to a certain extent, all films are made for cash. But this is the very definition of the term. Zero...zero...artistic integrity to this. 

 

So much for the War of Angmar, BTW. From what has been called the greatest novel of the 20th century, we're getting reductive fanfic written by Phillipa Boyen's daughter and Stephen Colbert's son.

[Chen G. 6,009]

2 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Phillipa Boyen's daughter

 

I don't see anything about Phoebe co-writing this? It seems to be a Boyens-Colbert-Colbert's-son three hander. Maybe Walsh, too.

 

Not that it discredits your point.

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

I think she's working THfG. 

[Chen G. 6,009]

Yes. The Hunt for Gollum is written by Walsh, Boyens and Papagittins. The Shadow of the Past seems to be written by Boyens, Colbert and his son Peter McGee.

 

Interestingly, they'be been "secretly" working on it for two years so they'll presumably have it lined up when they're done shooting Gollum.

[Quintus 6,303]

At least Shadow of the Past is an alluring title for a film. Hunt for Gollum is a terrible one.

[Tallguy 7,260]

34 minutes ago, Jay said:

Cremeritis!

 

Stop trying to make Cremeritis happen!  

 

Am I getting this wrong? This would be The Tom Bombadill movie, right?

 

Would they be casting new Hobbits?

 

[Chen G. 6,009]

13 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

This would be The Tom Bombadill movie, right?

 

Kinda...? I think?

 

Another option we need to look into is that this is some big, totally deadpan prank a-la Jackson's Forgotten Silver. Or that Son of Kong prank he pulled in the King Kong making-ofs.

 

I doubt it is. But we need to look at all possibilities.

[Quintus 6,303]

They'll probably get the Jack Reacher guy to play Bombadil. Tom Cruise.

 

 

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

In all my years of fandom, I've had the range of emotions reacting to a film announcement...excitement, indifference, boredom, laughter, anticipation, etc. I think this is probably the first time I've ever been angry hearing  a film announcement.

 

Fuck you Peter Jackson. The reservoir of good will you had built up after your wonderful LOTR movies? Gone. You're dead to me. Thanks for the memories!

 

[Edmilson 12,182]

"The Lord of the Rings Cinematic Universe"

 

Honestly, Jackson should go back to doing Beatles documentaries. 

 

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but... Isn't Colbert one of those late night presenters of comedic news shows, like Jimmy Fallon or whatever? Since when has he been writing movie scripts? Or was he just trying to get a gig for his kid?

[Jay 45,771]

Reading the articles linked would answer your questions.

[Barnald 437]

35 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

In all my years of fandom, I've had the range of emotions reacting to a film announcement...excitement, indifference, boredom, laughter, anticipation, etc. I think this is probably the first time I've ever been angry hearing  a film announcement.

 

Fuck you Peter Jackson. The reservoir of good will you had built up after your wonderful LOTR movies? Gone. You're dead to me. Thanks for the memories!

 

 

Don't sit on the fence, Nick - tell us how you really feel.

[Chen G. 6,009]

Let him vent his fury.

 

Like, it's a weird one for me too. But I'm not heaping pronouncements of doom upon Peter's head just yet. But I get it: this is a big shocker.

[Quintus 6,303]

Jacko's position on hallowed ground is safe. The OT guarantees him that.

[Edmilson 12,182]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Reading the articles linked would answer your questions.

Just did, and yeah, it did answer my question: it is indeed Colbert carving a gig for his kid.

 

And the movie's logline is super boring anyway: "why the War of the Ring was lost before it even began"? Huh? Yeah, it was almost lost many times, but ultimately they won, right? So, what's the point? What would it change? Feels like a truly unnecessary addition to the movie canon, in the same line of that awful fan film-y Obi-Wan show.

 

Instead of unnecessary prequels, why don't they do a Morgoth movie? I love Morgoth, a villain way more powerful than Sauron and the closest in the Tolkienverse to a Lovecraftian horror monster. I'd love to see his story told in an epic trilogy.

[Quintus 6,303]

They're digging in the wrong place.

[Jill Sandwich 11,000]

Will this movie be a comedy?

[Chen G. 6,009]

Who knows?!

[Tallguy 7,260]

8 minutes ago, Jill Sandwich said:

Will this movie be a comedy?

 

Quote

Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;

Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

 

Will this retcon (blech) Merry and Pippin into coming along on purpose / not being stupid?

[Chen G. 6,009]

Who knows? Colbert said:

 

Quote

"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, and I started talking this over with my son Peter [McGee], whose also a screenwriter, and we worked out what we thought would work, especially as a framing device for that story."

 

I really don't know what to make of this. But we'll cross this bridge when we get to it.

[Jill Sandwich 11,000]

I presume it'll be a pretend comedy because this guy goes on late night TV and pretends he's funny.

[Luke Skywalker 2,361]

It would be more interesting to make the scouring if the shire… but oh wait. They killed saruman.

 

this is milking of the cow starwars level. Expect disney to buy the franchise in a few years.

 

even PJ voice sounds like George Lucas…

 

honestly they waited too much. The cast is old and mckellen is ancient. He wont be around to make many more of these ‘equels.

 

can someone enlight me why PJ couldnt do the rings of power himself a few years back? 

[Jill Sandwich 11,000]

They'll just use advanced CGI to include Gandalph.

[Chen G. 6,009]

10 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

can someone enlight me why PJ couldnt do the rings of power himself a few years back? 

 

Rings of Power is by a different company, based on a different set of rights. There was talk of co-producing with New Line Cinema and with Peter executive producing, but it was never going to work out.

 

And, look, the subject for this movie sounds pretty darn out there but...it's still just one other movie: their ninth overall. Star Wars is twelve films strong, with more TV Specials and TV shows than I care to count, and something like six other film projects in development, of which at least one or two are a trilogy.

[Quintus 6,303]

Zooming out from these passages in book, which are two thirds great, I just don't see any dramatic value in telling this made up story now, on the backdrop of the films that already exist and which have completed the tale - and which Jacko wisely jettisoned those parts for purposes of cinematic pacing anyway. This story will be redundant. And just reading the blurb, it sounds boring as shit.

 

Instead of wasting their time with fluff, they should be wrestling back some of the appendices and building a story around Melkor instead. That would have been badass.

[Edmilson 12,182]

1 hour ago, Luke Skywalker said:

this is milking of the cow starwars level. 

This.

 

Can't wait until their new Paramount overlords force a ton of LOTR spin-offs for their streaming HBOMount +. The Adventures of Young Aragorn, or The Ballad of Legolas & Gimli, an 8-episode miniseries about that time when those two, when they were hunting the Uruks who captured Merry and Pippin, left Aragorn for a week to go save some poor farmers from bandits or whatever. Starring Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies, but with CGI de-aging to make them look like their 2002 selves.

 

Sigh...

 

23 minutes ago, Jim said:

 

Instead of wasting their time with fluff, they should be wrestling back some of the appendices and building a story around Melkor instead.

Also this! And ten times this!

 

If they are going to keep churning out more LOTR stuff, it's well past the time to introduce the biggest bad, the ultimate boss, the primordial evil of Arda to Jackson's version of the Middle-Earth.

 

[Jay 45,771]

Colbert thought he was escaping his Paramount overlords by doing a movie for Warner Bros, then Paramount goes and buys Warner Bros

[Rachael Foley 10,001]

11 hours ago, Mr. Who said:

 

LOTR3 had a perfect ending so there is absolutely no need to do some fan fiction sequel what happens 14 years later.

 

Someone saw the Aragorn's Quest cutscenes and thought there was a story there? smh

[TheTennisBallKid 26]

5 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

 

Am I getting this wrong? This would be The Tom Bombadill movie, right?

 

That was my first thought on seeing “missing chapters from Fellowship “

 

if Shore is writing music for this, yay! If not…well, hmmm.

[Chen G. 6,009]

1 hour ago, Jim said:

Instead of wasting their time with fluff, they should be wrestling back some of the appendices and building a story around Melkor instead. That would have been badass.

 

The rights to that are unavailable.

 

The biggest stories they have access to are the Gondorian Kinstrife, the Angmar War and maybe Cirion and Eorl.

 

And those just aren't strongly related to the events and characters of the War of the Ring story.

[Smeltington 1,910]

Another day in the life of a JWFan, finding out how they're going to use the things we love to create an anemic product to juice us next.

[Tallguy 7,260]

You know that Frankenstein's creature has been in over 400 films?

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

You know that Frankenstein's creature has been in over 400 films?

Frankenstein is public domain, anyone can make a Frankenstein film. And I'm pretty sure most of those films sucked.

 

 

[Glóin the Dark 1,841]

Abbott and Costello Meet Bombadil

[Tallguy 7,260]

37 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Frankenstein is public domain, anyone can make a Frankenstein film. And almost all of those films sucked.

 

 

 

Almost!

[Nick1Ø66 8,079]

9 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I really don't know what to make of this. But we'll cross this bridge when we get to it.

 

“The tale grew in the telling…”
 

It will be old Sam, with perhaps Merry and Pippin present, sitting around telling (or reading from the Red Book) the stories to his kids, like Bilbo was doing with the kids ("monstrous trolls/squished like jelly") at his birthday party in FOTR, segueing into flashback. Hopefully absent that old TV wavy flashback effect with the freaky music.

 

That will explain the old age of the original actors a "framing device", and since it's being told as a story, it will explain why the new, younger actors look different...and also makes it easy to wave away any inconsistencies as poor memory or embellishment on Sam's part.

[Rachael Foley 10,001]

2 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

It will be old Sam, with perhaps Merry and Pippin present, sitting around telling (reading for the Red Book) the stories to his kids, like Bilbo was doing with the kids (the "monstrous trolls") at his birthday party in FOTR. That will explain the old age of the original actors a "framing device", and since its being told as a story, it will explain why the younger versions look different...and also makes it easy to wave away any inconsistencies as poor memory or embellishment on Sam's part.

[ST-321 36]

My first reaction to this was that this was an early April Fools Day story. At least Colbert is a major Tolkien nerd, and quite smart, so maybe he'll end up giving us something good.

[Rachael Foley 10,001]

When they wheel out Shore for one of the films later down the line: