Stephen Colbert already has a new job lined up for when he ends his 11-year run as host of "The Late Show" in May. The comedian and well-known J.R.R. Tolkien superfan announced he will co-write and develop a new film in the blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" franchise.
Colbert joined "LOTR" director Peter Jackson to reveal the news in a video announcement shared by Warner Bros., the parent company of CNN. The film is tentatively titled "Shadow of the Past," according to Deadline.
"I'm pretty happy about it. You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me," the late-night host told Jackson, who led the Oscar-winning team behind the nearly $6 billion original "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies.
Colbert said the next installment will be based on parts of Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring" book that did not make it into the original movies.
"The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship of the Ring that you all never developed into the first movie back in the day ... and I thought, 'Oh, wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story,'" he said.
Colbert said he discussed the idea with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, to work out the framing of the story. He admitted it took time to gather the courage to approach Jackson.
"It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile and give you a call, but about two years ago, I did. You liked it enough to talk to me about it," Colbert told Jackson.
Also Read: BTS Comeback Concert Draws 18.4M Viewers Worldwide on Netflix
Colbert said he, McGee, and Jackson have been working alongside screenwriter Philippa Boyens on the development of the story. "I could not be happier to say that they loved it, and so that's what we're going to be working on," Colbert said.
The project will be the second of two new upcoming films in the fantasy franchise in production at Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema. The first is "The Hunt for Gollum," due to be released in 2027, directed by and starring franchise alum Andy Serkis.
Jackson also gave audiences an update on that film in the same announcement.
Colbert's move into Middle-earth comes as his late-night career draws to a close. He announced in January that the final episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will air on May 21 after CBS decided last year to cancel the highly rated late-night program, citing financial pressure.
Colbert nodded to the show's upcoming ending in his latest announcement, saying, "It turns out I'm going to be free starting this summer."
It is no secret that Colbert is a long-time fan of the fantasy series, often citing the books and films in his segments. The Tolkien expert also moderated a "Hobbit" panel in full costume during Comic-Con in 2014.
With "Shadow of the Past" now in development, Colbert will trade the late-night desk for the Shire, turning his encyclopedic knowledge of Middle-earth into what fans hope will be a worthy addition to the beloved saga.
Also Read: 'The AI Doc' Directors Call the AI Economy a Ponzi Scheme Before March 27 Open
