New Colbert-helmed Lord of the Rings movie

Some major news was announced in the early morning of Tolkien Reading Day; Warner Bros., currently still an independent company pre-merger with Paramount, released a video on social media featuring Peter Jackson surprising fans with an announcement of another Lord of The Rings movie…to be co-written by none other than Stephen Colbert!

News

In the video, Stephen Colbert goes on to describe how he’s spent the past two years, with his son, Peter McGee, and Phillipa Boyens on outlining a story based on six chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring: from ‘Three’s Company’ to ‘Fog on the Barrow-downs’.

It is unknown when this movie will even start filming, as The Hunt for Gollum is still underway and not due for release until December 2027. What we do know, from an article in Deadline, is that the movie’s working title is “The Lord of the Rings: The Shadow of The Past”, and the following description:

The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is set 14 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.

In the interview with Stephen Colbert, he mentions a ‘framing device’ for the story, which would imply that the content of those chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring would appear as ‘flashbacks’ within the frame of Elanor in the Fourth Age discovering the journey that Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin undertook.

Of course, this raises even more questions. Will the actors from the LOTR trilogy reprise their roles for this movie? As was recently revealed by Knight Edge Media, The Hunt for Gollum will cast a young actor for the role of Aragorn, as Viggo Mortensen has reportedly turned down any chance of reprising the role. However, in a recent interview with The Times, Elijah Wood has mentioned a possibility of a role reprisal as Frodo Baggins:

“It hasn’t been officially announced, but at a convention last August, Ian sort of let the cat out of the bag,” he says. “So there is a good chance. I’m not able to officially say anything until it’s announced, but I will say I’m thrilled with the prospect of another film. 

Could this have been the ‘official announcement’ he was waiting for? Does this also imply a possibility of an appearance in The Hunt for Gollum, currently filming? And does it imply all four hobbits will reprise their roles for the characters?

Analysis

There are six chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring that were left out of Jackson’s 2001 film adaptation: ‘Three is Company’, ‘A Shortcut to Mushrooms’, ‘A Conspiracy Unmasked’, ‘The Old Forest’, ‘In The House of Tom Bombadil’, and ‘Fog on the Barrow-downs’. Most obviously, these chapters contain the enigmatic character Tom Bombadil, who was left out of the original trilogy (Tom Bombadil has made an appearance in Season 2 of Amazon’s LOTR Production, The Rings of Power, where he is played by Rory Kinnear).

Other characters that appear in these chapters include: Gildor Inglorion, the infamous Thinking Fox, Farmer Maggot and his family, Fatty Bolger, Old Man Willow, Tom’s wife Goldberry, and a Barrow-wight. Already, we see some issues that could arise.

Stephen Colbert mentioned that he wanted to “make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies”, which would be a challenge. The movies condense elements of these chapters, like the first encounter with the Nazgul on the road (from ‘Three is Company’), which occurs shortly after escaping Farmer Maggot’s farm (an echo of ‘A Shortcut to Mushrooms’).

There are even greater challenges that occur with the last three chapters that introduce Tom Bombadil, the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs. If we had to guess where to place these scenes within the first movie of the trilogy, it would have to be between the end of the Bucklebury Ferry scene and before the scene where the four hobbits arrive at Bree.

It works in the movie, to transition the hobbits from the danger of the Ringwraiths to the first encounter with the world of Men in Bree. But the addition of this new movie, with a side-quest through the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs, might make annual rewatches a bit of a challenge.

And then of course, there is Tom Bombadil. Peter Jackson once stated that Tom Bombadil was cut from the first film because the character does not move the story forward. However, with this film, an opportunity presents itself to portray Tom Bombadil in his full whimsical nature, without the confines of having to move along the story.

Brian Sibley, who had adapted The Lord of the Rings for a radio play in 1981 also left out Tom Bombadil, later creating a condensed radio play titled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

Most recently, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power introduced Tom Bombadil as a character in Season 2, and he was mostly well-received, even if there was some bemusement as to the purpose of his role in the distant lands of Rhûn. But now, with this movie, there is an opportunity to bring back Tom Bombadil in his original setting in the Old Forest.

For now, we’ll have to wait to see how production of this post-Hunt for Gollum movie proceeds, as it may be some time before we get further production announcements or any casting news (like who will play Tom Bombadil and Elanor?). Given the nature of WB’s current rights to the Lord of the Rings, it will be interesting to see if they announce any more projects in the near future. Suffice it to say, there are many answers yet to discover, but regardless, we look forward to more adventures into Middle-earth.