Stephen Colbert’s next gig after late night will take him to The Shire.

The comedian will write the screenplay for a brand-new The Lord of the Rings movie for Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. This new film has the working title of The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. It will be penned by Colbert, Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee.

The official Lord of the Rings Instagram shared the news in a post on Tuesday. The video starts with filmmaker Peter Jackson updating fans on the upcoming movie The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. He then teases a surprise, before Colbert joins the call.

“In honor of Tolkien Reading Day and the destruction of the One Ring, we bring you a special announcement,” the post is captioned.

Colbert then tells all about the film he is writing. 

“You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me, but the thing that I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day,” Colbert said. “Then I thought — oh wait! Maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?”

Colbert will end his run as host of CBS’ The Late Show on May 21, giving him time to focus solely on this new screenplay, he said.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum arrives in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027. It is directed by Andy Serkis, who has played Gollum for decades and will reprise the role again.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.