Stephen Colbert’s Brilliant Next Act After Late Show Cancellation

Well, here’s a development nobody had on their 2025 bingo card: CBS is not only giving Stephen Colbert the boot from The Late Show, but they’re shutting down the entire Late Show operation after more than three decades. Yes, that’s the same show David Letterman kicked off way back in 1993. Colbert will officially hang up his late-night hosting duties on May 21, 2026, capping off just shy of eleven years in the big chair. So, what’s a TV guy to do after getting ejected from one of the most storied desks in New York? The answer, apparently, is Middle-earth.

Colbert’s Next Move: Back to Middle-earth

Before late night, most folks remember Stephen Colbert as the faux-right-wing loudmouth from The Daily Show and then The Colbert Report, where he masterfully lampooned guys like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. Nobody had him pegged as a blockbuster fantasy screenwriter. But that’s exactly what’s next for him; Colbert will be co-writing The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past—yes, a big-budget sequel movie in a franchise that honestly doesn’t hand out the keys to just anyone. He’s teamed up with his son Peter McGee and franchise veteran Philippa Boyens to write the script.

Here’s the premise: The story picks up 14 years after Frodo ships off from Middle-earth. Samwise, Merry, and Pippin head out on a kind of anniversary road trip, retracing their first journey. Sam’s daughter, Elanor, uncovers an old secret that suggests the War of the Ring very nearly ended in disaster before it even started. It’s not the obvious setup for a sequel, but it’s got potential—and, let’s be honest, weirder pitches have made it to screen.

A Tolkien Geek’s Dream Gig

At first glance, Colbert and Tolkien might feel like a weird mix. But let’s be real: nobody in showbiz is a bigger Tolkien obsessive than Stephen Colbert. The guy is basically a scholar of Middle-earth lore at this point. His passion for all things Tolkien started when he lost his father and two brothers in a plane crash as a kid. Isolating, new school, not many friends—so he lost himself in the books, and he never really came out.

He’s been milking his Tolkien expertise for years. Colbert even landed a cameo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (along with his wife and sons) as a Laketown spy. He’s hosted plenty of Lord of the Rings cast members on his TV shows, and his knowledge is honestly the stuff of legend. One memorable late-night segment had Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan (aka Pippin and Merry) trying—and mostly failing—to stump Colbert’s Middle-earth trivia. He blew one detail (the location of the Entmoot: Derndingle, if you care), but then immediately redeemed himself by knowing which hobbit invented golf. (Fact: it’s Bandobras 'Bullroarer' Took, and no, I didn’t have that memorized.)

Really, his enthusiasm goes so deep that even Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant joined the nerd-out during an interview, and you know you’ve hit superfan territory when rock legends join in.

How Colbert Got Here – and What He's Bringing to the Table

Now, here’s the weird, sort-of-insider part: Colbert’s drive for Shadow of the Past comes from a very specific Tolkien itch. In his pitch video to Peter Jackson, he explained,

“You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me, but the thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship that y'all never developed into the first movie back in the day.”

To clarify: He’s talking about Chapters 3 through 8 of The Fellowship of the Ring—from 'Three Is Company' through 'Fog on the Barrow-downs.' Colbert always wondered if that chunk of story could stand on its own as a movie. A couple years ago, he picked up the phone, called Peter Jackson (as you do), and started pitching. From there, he and Jackson worked on the concept and then brought it to New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Fast-forward: it’s actually happening.

If you’re wondering if Colbert has the writing chops for this, fair question. Most of his credits are on the comedy/variety side: The Dana Carvey Show, Strangers with Candy (which he also helped create), and writing stints on SNL, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and some animated/variety bits like Tooning Out The News. No epic fantasy scripts—unless you count satirical takes on American politics as epic fantasy. Still, he’s not flying solo. Philippa Boyens is on board, and she co-wrote the original Lord of the Rings films. And really, Colbert’s Tolkien nerdery goes back five decades—he’s not going to screw up the homework.

What to Expect from 'Shadow of the Past'

• Story is set 14 years post-Frodo’s departure — Sam, Merry and Pippin hit the road again, prompted by Elanor’s discovery of a nearly-forgotten danger
• Script by Colbert, his son Peter McGee, and Philippa Boyens (a trilogy veteran)
• Colbert brings a lifetime of Tolkien obsession, but this is his first major foray outside comedy/variety writing
• Peter Jackson is at least involved in the development phase; no word yet on directing
• Colbert’s passion for Tolkien famously helped him through personal tragedy as a kid and basically shaped his worldview
• Don’t expect cranky pundit Colbert here—it’s all about earnest, deep-cut Tolkien lore

I get it: A late-night comic trying to bring lost Middle-earth tales to the big screen sounds nuts. But if you’re going to bet on a superfan to treat Tolkien’s world with obsessive care, you could do a lot worse. Between Colbert’s commitment, the return of key screenwriters from the original trilogy, and what sounds like genuine support from Jackson, there’s reason to hope this isn’t just another studio cash-grab.

As always, cautious optimism. At worst, it’ll be interesting. At best, we might actually get a new story in Middle-earth that feels like something Tolkien himself would have read.