Stephen Colbert recently revealed his unexpected next career move after “The Late Show” will come to an end on CBS in May: He will be co-writing a new “Lord of the Rings” movie titled “Shadow of the Past.”
He may have hinted at the announcement on Monday’s episode of the “Smartless” podcast (which was taped on March 18, a week before the “LOTR” project was unveiled on March 24).
Asked by co-hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes about what he will do when he leaves the desk at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Colbert kept mum on the specifics, but said, “I’ll tell you, the person who did the thing I most admire — I mean, not most admire, but the thing that really struck me is, you know what [Bill] Hader did when he left ‘SNL’? He went and wrote for ‘South Park’ for a season.”
Colbert recalled sitting behind Hader at the Emmys shortly after his departure from “Saturday Night Live.” Hader left the NBC sketch comedy series in 2013 and returned to “South Park,” where he had previously worked as a creative consultant, producer and voice actor.
“I said, ‘Man, that’s the perfect thing to do.’ Just go serve something that you love already,” Colbert said. “See, can I be of service to people whose work I really admire? I thought that’s a great thing to do. Don’t even worry about your status of your previous gig. Just go do something you love.”
Colbert teased that he had plans in the works but would not tell the “Smartless” hosts what they are “because then you would go do them. I know what Hollywood is like.”
Six days later, Warner Bros. would announce “Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past” via a video from Peter Jackson and Colbert. An outspoken Tolkien fanatic, Colbert explained that the plot of his movie will come from chapters of “The Fellowship of the Ring” that didn’t make it into Jackson’s 2001 adaptation. He developed the idea with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and eventually worked up the courage to pitch it to Jackson, who helped take it to Warner Bros. Over the last two years, they’ve worked with screenwriter Philippa Boyens to develop a script.
The film, which will come after Andy Serkis’ 2027 installment “The Hunt for Gollum” will take place 14 years after the death of Frodo. “Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure,” reads the logline. “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.”
Colbert’s final episode of “The Late Show” will air on May 21 on CBS. In July 2025, the long-running late-night talker was canceled by CBS after 33 years, 11 seasons of which were hosted by Colbert.
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