The Fate of Stephen Colbert's New 'Lord of the Rings' Movie Is Officially Sealed

4 days ago 13
 The Fellowship of the Ring Image via New Line Cinema

Published Oct 5, 2026, 5:01 PM EDT

Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider.  He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers.

Lured by the brilliance of Middle Earth from an early age both in print and on screen, his palate has since expanded to other realms including Westeros, Kattegat among others. He also possesses a great appetite for the stories that emanate from the vastness of space. Even though he is no Avenger.

Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here.

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There are several mystical and fantastical worlds created on the pages of novels and then translated onto the big screen. Novel-to-screen adaptations have become a significant part of filmmaking, but there is one that reigns supreme above all. At the turn of the century, director Peter Jackson delivered a masterpiece that has gone on to define the genre of fantasy — The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since then, the temptation to return to Middle-earth has been strong, even for Jackson himself, who went on to develop the critically panned trilogy, The Hobbit.

However, despite that misadventure of sorts, Prime Video has embarked upon the journey of investing a fortune in the development of the prequel series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is set to return on November 11 with the first four episodes of its third season. Beyond The Rings of Power, interest in J.R.R. Tolkien's has been at an all-time high; it would seem as more and more projects keep sprouting up. Andy Serkis, who plays the pitiable villain, Sméagol/Gollum in all three parts of the original trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, will be returning to the role in 2027. Serkis will be directing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, while taking on his familiar role once more.

The Hunt for Gollum makes its way to theaters on December 17, 2027, but the feature is not the only new entry that fans have been anticipating. In his transition from late-night television to movies, Stephen Colbert is poised to make a new Middle-earth saga titled Lord of the Rings: The Shadow of the Past. Exciting, right? However, due to the highly publicized Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, rumors emerged that the TV host's Middle-earth project had been "paused." Thankfully, that is not the case. The original rumor began with an "exclusive" from Knight Edge Media. ScreenRant's Rob Keyes was quick to label the report as "inaccurate" and was justified when Warner Bros. contacted Knight Edge Media, ultimately leading to the following update being added at the bottom of the story:

"WB has reached out to reiterate that it is not 'cancelled' and is still in development. As we wrote, it wasn’t cancelled/canned, which leaves the door open to still being made."

Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the Rings
Character Are You?
One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed

The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.

💍Frodo

🌿Samwise

👑Aragorn

🔥Gandalf

🏹Legolas

⚒️Gimli

👁️Sauron

🪨Gollum

BEGIN YOUR QUEST →

01

You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.

AAccept it. Someone has to, and running changes nothing. BStay by the side of whoever carries it. They shouldn't go alone. CStep forward and lead. This is exactly what I was made for. DIt's mine now. I won't let anyone else have it.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.

AFollow them without hesitation. I'd rather die beside them than live without them. BRally others and forge a plan to help — strength in numbers. COffer wisdom and guidance. My counsel may save them where swords cannot. DLet them go. Only the strong survive, and sentiment is a weakness.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.

ADestroy it. Nothing good comes from power this absolute. BUse it to protect those I love — just this once. CWield it wisely. I have the will and the knowledge to do good with it. DSeize it. I have waited long enough. It belongs to me.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.

AA simple, peaceful place — green hills, good food, no adventure required. BWherever the people I love are. Home is a feeling, not a place. CA kingdom I must earn before I can truly claim it as mine. DI lost it long ago. That loss is what drives everything I do.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.

ASurvive by any means. I'm not a fighter — but I'll do what I must. BFight for the person beside me, not for glory or honour. CLead the charge. Nothing inspires an army like a king at the front. DStrike from range, fast and precise — never let them get close.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it's knowing which questions to ask.

AListen, then offer honest encouragement. Sometimes people just need belief. BGive them practical help — words are fine, but action is better. CSpeak carefully. I have seen much, and I know what counsel can cost. DTell them what they want to hear. Trust is a tool like any other.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.

ASmall and ordinary — but perhaps that's exactly why I was chosen. BDefined entirely by who I serve and love. I am nothing without them. CForged by hardship into something the world has not yet fully seen. DDiminished from what I once was — and consumed by the need to reclaim it.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.

AI find peace in it — forests, rivers, open skies. Nature restores me. BI prefer the earth underfoot — stone, mines, solid and real things. CI have watched the world change for longer than most can comprehend. DNature offers hiding places, cold water, raw fish. That's enough for me.

NEXT QUESTION →

09

You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.

AShow mercy. Even the most broken souls deserve a chance at redemption. BPity them — but never trust them. They made their choices. CSee them as a tool. Their knowledge or skills may still serve a purpose. DDestroy them before they can cause more harm. Mercy is a luxury we cannot afford.

NEXT QUESTION →

10

When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.

AThat an ordinary person did an extraordinary thing — and came home. BThat I never abandoned the person who needed me most. CThat I was worthy of the crown — and everything it demanded. DNothing. I don't need songs. I needed it, and now it's gone.

REVEAL MY FATE →

The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth

The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.

💍 Frodo

🌿 Samwise

👑 Aragorn

🔥 Gandalf

🏹 Legolas

⚒️ Gimli

👁️ Sauron

🪨 Gollum

You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don't have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.

You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you'd do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.

You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.

You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.

Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.

You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don't do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.

You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you're not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.

You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

What Is Stephen Colbert's 'Lord of the Rings' Movie About?

The Shadow of the Past will see Colbert co-write the screenplay alongside his son, Peter McGee, and director Jackson, in a story that aims to cover chapters that Jackson omitted in his first adaptation. Philippa Boyens, screenwriter on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, has also joined the project as well. As a Tolkien superfan, Colbert will have the opportunity to expand upon Middle-earth's story by exploring written pieces that never made it on screen. While Serkis' Hunt for Gollum will explore Aragorn's charge by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to search the uncivilized lands for traces of the elusive Sméagol/Gollum before the Council of Elrond. Colbert's The Shadow of the Past will, according to the synopsis as reported by Variety, pick up after the end of the original trilogy, with Sam, Merry, and Pippin retracing their adventures:

"Fourteen 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."

The Shadow of the Past does not have a release date yet, but The Hunt for Gollum arrives in theaters on December 17. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.

the-lord-of-the-rings-the-hunt-for-gollum-poster.jpg

Release Date December 17, 2027

Writers Arty Papageorgiou, Phoebe Gittins, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, J.R.R. Tolkien

Franchise(s) The Lord of the Rings

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