Warner Bros. Announces Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced on Wednesday the development of a new live-action film in the Lord of the Rings franchise, tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past. The project, which adapts unused material from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, will be written by Stephen Colbert in collaboration with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and veteran scribe Philippa Boyens.

The announcement came in a video update posted on Warner Bros. social media channels, featuring director Peter Jackson and Colbert. Jackson, who helmed the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, first provided progress on the franchise's next installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. "It's looking amazing," Jackson said. "The script is coming together really well, and I think it's going to be a really good film." That film, directed by and starring Andy Serkis as Gollum, is set for theatrical release on December 17, 2027, and reunites much of the original production team, including producers Fran Walsh, Boyens, and Jackson.

Jackson then introduced Colbert as a key collaborator for the follow-up project. A longtime Tolkien enthusiast, Colbert explained that...