Peter Jackson has confirmed The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is in the scriptwriting stage following cancellation rumors that emerged in the wake of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
The filmmaker behind the fantasy franchise’s original live-action trilogy gave a much-needed update at the Sitges Film Festival (via ScreenRant). When accepting the Honorary Grand Prize, Jackson took a moment to talk about where The Lord of the Rings stands in the movie world.
It’s Shadow of the Past that most fans may be scratching their heads about, though. Announced by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema in March, The Lord of the Rings story is being written by Philippa Boyens, Peter McGee, and perhaps most notably, former Late Show host and franchise fan Stephen Colbert. Earlier this month, outlet Knight Edge Media reported that the newly formed Skydance had paused the project.
Considering the sudden end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier this year, fans begin to fear the worst for Shadow of the Past. Warner Bros. did eventually clarify to the outlet that the project had not been outright canceled. Jackson, however, didn’t skip a beat when promising that work for the movie was still very much underway.
“We have The Shadow of the Past, which is in the scriptwriting stage,” he said.
It’s not much, but it should be good news for those who have missed taking trips to the theater to see The Lord of the Rings films. Despite supposedly being so early in development – and its work-in-progress title – we do already know a bit about Shadow of the Past’s story.
Jackson and Colbert promised that the trilogy follow-up movie would take place 14 years after Hobbit Frodo had passed. It’s said to instead see “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.”
Jackson also took his Sitges acceptance speech as an opportunity to deliver an update on another, much further along project: The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Production on the Andy Serkis-led film is underway, but it sounds like they won’t be filming for too much longer. Jackson is in the mix on this one as well, with the plan being for him to work on Tintin 2 next.
“The Hunt for Gollum is almost finished filming. I think there are about two weeks of shooting left. And we’ve also already written the script for Tintin 2, the second Tintin film. That will be the next film I make.”
The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is still making the long trek to become an actual movie, but does not currently have a release date. The Hunt for Gollum will premiere December 17, 2027. In the meantime, you can read what Colbert had to say to those concerned about his involvement.
Photo by Darren Gerrish/WireImage.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
