Stephen Colbert Pitched 'Lord of the Rings' Movie Before 'Late Show' Canceled - Variety

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Peter Jackson is discussing for the first time what it’s like working with Stephen Colbert on his recently-announced “Lord of the Rings,” saying he’s “never met anyone who knows more about Tolkien” than the late night talk show host.

“He phoned me up a year ago — before he knew his show was going to finish — and said, ‘I don’t know if you’re interesting, but I’ve got an idea for a Tolkien movie based on the books that I think would be really good,'” Jackson told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival, where the director was honored with a Palme d’Or on opening night.

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Jackson said he liked Colbert’s pitch enough to set him up with his long-standing collaborator Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote “ The Lord of the Rings ” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, and they worked together for a year on a treatment. Colbert even travelled to New Zealand to be closer to the team.

In the middle of this writing process, “The Late Show” was canceled by CBS (the final episode is set for May 21), a decision Jackson said wasn’t what the show or Colbert “deserved.” But having such a major project to focus on “after he got fired” is a major benefit in Jackson’s eyes.

“I think Steven’s actually really happy — I think it helped him process [something that] what was rather shocking,” he said. “So it was like, okay, one day he’s going to be a late night talk show host, and the next day he’s going to be a Tolkien scriptwriter.”

First announced by Jackson via video in late March, Colbert’s new “Lord of the Rings” installment will follow Andy Serkis’ “The Hunt for Gollum” and currently has the working title “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.”

Written by Colbert, his son Peter McGee and Boyens, the film’s official logline reads: "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."

This new project marks Colbert's first foray into blockbuster development but not his first collaboration with Jackson, having had a small role in 2013's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." He also directed Jackson, as well as "Lord of the Rings" stars Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood, in the 2019 short film "Darrylgorn," which is set in JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth.

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