Stephen Colbert to co-write new ‘Lord of the Rings’ film after ‘Late Show’ finale

Stephen Colbert is trading his late-night desk for Middle-earth.

The outgoing host of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” announced Wednesday that he will co-write and develop a new film in the “Lord of the Rings” franchise — a dream project for the comedian and self-described Tolkien superfan, who revealed the news alongside director Peter Jackson in a video announcement shared by Warner Bros.

“I’m pretty happy about it … you know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me,” Mr. Colbert told Mr. Jackson, who directed the Oscar-winning original “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, which together grossed nearly $6 billion.

The film is tentatively titled “Shadow of the Past,” according to Deadline, and will be the second of two new “Lord of the Rings” productions in development at Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema.

Mr. Colbert said the project will draw on portions of Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” that were not adapted in the original films. “The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in ’The Fellowship of the Ring’ that y’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.

Mr. Colbert said he has been working on the script alongside his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and veteran “Rings” screenwriter Philippa Boyens. He said it took him “a few years to scrape my courage into a pile” before calling Mr. Jackson roughly two years ago to pitch the concept.

Mr. Jackson also provided an update on the first of the two new films, “The Hunt for Gollum,” directed by and starring franchise veteran Andy Serkis, which is slated for release in 2027.

The announcement comes as Mr. Colbert prepares to sign off after a decade on CBS. The final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is set to air May 21, after CBS decided last year to cancel the program, calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” CBS called Mr. Colbert irreplaceable and announced it would retire the “Late Show” franchise entirely rather than seek a replacement host.

The cancellation of the top-rated late-night program drew immediate criticism from Democratic senators, including Adam Schiff of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who questioned whether the decision was politically motivated. The announcement came just days after Mr. Colbert publicly condemned a $16 million settlement between CBS parent company Paramount and President Trump over a “60 Minutes” story, calling it “a big fat bribe.” CBS maintained the cancellation was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Mr. Colbert, a 10-time Emmy winner, told GQ magazine last fall that he found it “reasonable” for people to draw a connection between the cancellation and the Paramount-Trump settlement, but stopped short of making that claim himself, saying “my side of the street is clean.” He noted that his show had held the No. 1 spot in late night for nine consecutive seasons, quipping that it was “the first number one show to ever get canceled.”

In his “Lord of the Rings” announcement, Mr. Colbert acknowledged the show’s upcoming end with characteristic wit, noting that “it turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer.”

Mr. Colbert has long been known as a dedicated Tolkien enthusiast, frequently referencing the books and films in his segments. He famously moderated a “Hobbit” panel at Comic-Con in 2014 in full costume.