We’re still seven days away from April Fool’s, yet waking up this morning, you might have thought it had already arrived.
Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that late-night host and Tolkien superfan Stephen Colbert is set to write a film set after the events of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Titled “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past,” the story serves as a follow-up set fourteen years after Frodo’s “passing.” Sam, Merry, and Pippin embark on a journey to revisit the earliest moments of their original quest. At the same time, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, uncovers a long-buried secret and becomes determined to learn why the War of the Ring almost failed before it had truly begun.
The announcement was made Tuesday night via Warner Bros.’ social media accounts, and the film will arrive after the upcoming Andy Serkis–directed “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.”
In the video posting, Peter Jackson says of that film: “Andy is doing a terrific job. It’s looking amazing. The script is coming together really well, and I think it’s going to be a really good film.”
Colbert then appears to talk about “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past,” noting that the new movie draws inspiration from six chapters of the first book, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” which were left out of Jackson’s 2001 film version.
Colbert says: “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?’”
Colbert first explored the concept with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee (“Outer Banks,” “The Righteous Gemstones”), and together they devised a “framing device.” Over the past two years, Colbert has collaborated with Jackson and screenwriter Philippa Boyens to develop and co-write the screenplay.
The upcoming film will draw from chapters featuring Tom Bombadil and the well-known “Fog on the Barrow-downs,” which introduces the eerie Barrow-wights. These elements were omitted from the original “Rings” film trilogy, although they have since appeared in Amazon’s series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
The main question on everybody’s mind: is this a good idea?
This seems to be drawn from Tolkien’s unfinished material set after the Fourth Age. While he never completed a full narrative, he did leave behind world-building notes describing what Middle-earth might look like in a world after Sauron’s defeat. We also know from Tolkien’s writings that Gimli eventually led an expedition to attempt to reclaim Moria.
What’s even more amusing is that Colbert was let go of his duties as late-night host by David Ellison, who owns CBS, but Ellison is set to own Warner Bros. very soon, which means Colbert could end up working under him again.