Peter Jackson Officially Confirms the Status of Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings Sequel

We are just over two weeks away from the premiere of the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is set to arrive on November 11 with its first four episodes. A return to Middle-earth is imminent and we simply cannot wait. However, over the decades, interest in the world that J.R.R. Tolkien built has continued to rise as the years roll by. As we head into 2027, that appetite for more will likely remain strong even after The Rings of Power completes its third season, with another adventure already on the horizon for December 2027. Andy Serkis, who is not strange to this world of elves, man and orcs, will be directing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, a new saga that makes its way to theaters on December 17, 2027.

Serkis originally played the complicated character, Sméagol/Gollum, in all three parts of the original trilogy of The Lord of the Rings which first premiered in the early 2000s. The critically acclaimed trilogy was expertly directed by Peter Jackson and introduces Gollum during The Fellowship of the Ring before his story terminates quite tragically in the fires of Mount Doom in The Return of the King. The Hunt for Gollum will cover the events which preceded the Council of Elrond at Rivendell, which ultimately launched the quest to destroy the One Ring. Serkis will reprise his role, but that will not be the end of new titles emerging from Tolkien's world.

Stephen Colbert, famed television host and incredibly geeky Tolkien superfan, is poised to deliver yet another adventure from the annals of Middle-earth and trilogy director Jackson has offered up a status update. Colbert’s adventure, titled The Lord of the Rings: The Shadow of the Past, was rumored to have been put on hold amid the corporate shake-up at Warner Bros. However, Jackson, while speaking at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain earlier this month, sought to dispel that fear:

"We have ‘The Shadow of the Past,’ which is in the scriptwriting stage. ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ is almost finished filming. I think there are about two weeks of shooting left."

What is 'The Shadow of the Past' About?

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As is often the case with novel-to-screen adaptations, certain chapters and stories from the original text are sidestepped for creative reasons. This is the avenue Colbert's The Shadow of the Past seeks to exploit. The upcoming adventure will revisit six chapters from Tolkien’s novel, The Fellowship of the Ring, going into sections that Jackson’s original trilogy left unexplored, including the enigmatic Tom Bombadil and the Old Forest, which he calls home. The Shadow of the Past is set fourteen years after Frodo departs Middle-earth for the Undying Lands. The story follows Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they retrace the early stages of their original journey, while Sam’s daughter Elanor investigates a secret connected to the War of the Ring.