Stephen Colbert began forging Rings legacy sequel long before Late Show firing

The world is changing. We can feel it in the water. We can feel it in the earth. We can smell in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live to remember 22 years ago when we thought we were through with Lord Of The Rings films. It began with three Rings movies, then three Hobbit movies, and some things that should not have been forgotten, like the quality of those Hobbit movies, were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth, and in 2024, Warner Bros. announced the development of even more Lord Of The Rings movies from Peter Jackson. The result of that deal was two upcoming movies: A prequel, The Hunt For Gollum, set between The Hobbit and Fellowship Of The Ring, from Animal Farm director Andy Serkis; and a sequel, Shadow Of The Past, a sequel set years after Return Of The King, co-written by Stephen Colbert. There’s no doubt that Colbert is one of Hollywood’s foremost Tolkien experts and has established a relationship with Jackson via cameos in The Hobbits. Per Variety, it was Colbert who leveraged that relationship to pitch the sequel.