Peter Jackson Finally Sets the Record Straight on Stephen Colbert’s LOTR Pitch and The Late Show Cancellation

Peter Jackson and Stephen Colbert working together on a new Lord of the Rings movie? Yeah, that collaboration is really happening—and it’s as wild as it sounds. Leave it to Colbert, professional Tolkien superfan, to pitch the king of Middle-earth adaptations his own take on Tolkien lore. And judging by Jackson’s latest comments from Cannes, this whole thing has taken some pretty unexpected turns.

Colbert's Big Tolkien Pitch

According to Jackson, Colbert hit him up about a year ago—way before any hint that The Late Show was getting the axe. The call went something like this: Colbert basically told Jackson, 'I don’t know if you’re interested, but I’ve got an idea for a Tolkien movie based on the books that I think would be really good.' That's a gutsy move, even for a guy whose Tolkien trivia skills are so off the charts that Jackson says he’s 'never met anyone who knows more about Tolkien' than Colbert. High praise coming from the man who actually put hobbits on the big screen.

From Talk Show Desk to Middle-earth

Jackson didn’t just brush Colbert off. In fact, he seemed genuinely impressed, even looping in his longtime writing partner Philippa Boyens (yeah, the same screenwriter behind the OG LOTR and Hobbit trilogies). Colbert even took the expedition to New Zealand—because apparently, trying to get a Lord of the Rings movie off the ground involves a proper pilgrimage.

Then, things got a little rocky: CBS pulled the plug on The Late Show (mark your calendar—the last episode airs May 21, 2026). That totally caught Colbert by surprise. But according to Jackson, working on this movie gave Colbert some much-needed perspective.

'I think Stephen’s actually really happy—I think it helped him process [something that] was rather shocking. One day he's a late-night talk show host, and the next day he's going to be a Tolkien scriptwriter.'

Where the Project Stands

• Movie Title (for now): The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past
• Creative Team: Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and yes, Stephen Colbert
• Timeline: The idea was pitched a year before The Late Show got the curtain call; still no word on a release date
• Other LOTR Movies: This project will come after Andy Serkis’s recently-announced The Hunt for Gollum

The Bottom Line

So, to sum up: Stephen Colbert loses his late-night gig, but may just land himself in Middle-earth as a screenwriter. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson is still king of keeping Tolkien alive on screen, and Shadow of the Past is officially in the works—just don’t hold your breath for a release window quite yet. This is one of those Hollywood surprises where the 'wait and see' factor is off the charts. If you ever doubted Colbert's Tolkien obsession went deep, well, here’s proof it runs all the way to Mordor.