Late-night host Stephen Colbert announced he will co-write a new Lord of the Rings film with his son. The project, with the working title Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, draws from early chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring. It features the fan-favorite character Tom Bombadil.
Stephen Colbert, a known Tolkien enthusiast who appeared in a cameo in The Hobbit films and speaks Elvish, revealed the news on Monday. He and his son are contributing to the script for Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. The film adapts chapters three through eight of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, centering on the chapter 'Fogs on the Barrow-downs.' In that story, Hobbits encounter an unnatural fog and become trapped by a Barrow-wight, with Tom Bombadil playing a key role—a character absent from prior adaptations. The announcement comes amid ongoing expansions of the Lord of the Rings franchise. The next installment, Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, is directed by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, and adapted by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Arty Papageorgiou, and Phoebe Gittins. That film is slated for release on December 17, 2027.