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Frodo’s Next Lord of the Rings Return Just Got More Complicated

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One of the most surprising announcements of the last 12 months was the confirmation that a new Lord of the Rings film was in the works, but this time, from the pen of one of television’s most famous late-night hosts. No, David Letterman isn’t writing a Tom Bombadil movie, but Stephen Colbert is taking one of the forgotten early chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring, and going back a quarter of a century to re-tell an important part of the story featuring Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took.

That setup has naturally led to speculation about whether the original Hobbits could return, especially after Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd appeared on IMDb listings tied to the project. But Wood has now made it clear that any return as Frodo Baggins remains very far from official. Speaking to The Direct while promoting Among Us, Wood said the project has not reached the stage where casting is locked in, or even where he has a script to consider.

“Okay. Well, it hasn’t… We’re not there yet… But listen, I think the implication is that the stories that Stephen [Colbert] wants to tell, which are the six chapters that were not committed to film in Fellowship of the Ring, largely because they would have slowed the process of the journey down, because when he leaves Bag End and the Shire, and he has to get to Bree, if it had gone the meandering way that it does in the books, it just would have taken a long time to get to Bree, and… it would have killed momentum.”











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Is Elijah Wood Returning for ‘Lord of the Rings’?

Wood did not rule out returning, though. In fact, he sounds genuinely excited by the prospect of Colbert tackling some of Tolkien’s more wandering, strange, and fan-beloved material. “But I think the idea of telling the story of what happens in those six chapters is really exciting, and I think really exciting for fans, and I think what Stephen and his son have crafted and what they’re working through is really rich and interesting, and it certainly includes all those characters,” he added. “So, a script has to be written, we have to go through a process and read it, and it has to get a green light and all those things, but certainly in theory, yeah. And I’m beyond thrilled that it’s Stephen and his son doing it. It’s in the best Tolkien scholarly hands.

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The big catch is right there: Shadows of the Past is not yet greenlit, meaning there is no confirmed cast, production timeline, or release date. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are reportedly attached as producers, but the project still has several major hurdles to clear before fans can start imagining Frodo heading back through the Barrow-downs. Wood is, however, set to return for The Hunt for Gollum, the Andy Serkis-helmed movie in which he will also star, with Jamie Dornan and Anya Taylor-Joy among the new names joining Middle-earth.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.


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Release Date

December 19, 2001

Runtime

178 Minutes

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Writers

Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, J.R.R. Tolkien

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Producers

Barrie M. Osborne, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Mark Ordesky, Robert Shaye, Tim Sanders

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