Stephen Colbert’s New Lord of the Rings Film Focuses on Overlooked Tolkien Chapters
As of this writing, there are still several days before April Fools’ Day, yet the announcement that Stephen Colbert, the American late-night host, is scripting a film based at least partly on previously unused sections of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal work feels almost like a prank.
It was already known that an entire film titled Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, directed by and starring Andy Serkis, is in production. This movie is based on a sequence briefly referenced in the 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring and is scheduled for release next year. Rumors have circulated about additional films potentially exploring other less-adapted parts of Tolkien’s legendarium, such as The Scouring of the Shire—the segment at the end of The Lord of the Rings where the hobbits return home to find Saruman has taken control—or stories from The Silmarillion or The Book of Lost Tales that have not been covered by Amazon’s high-budget Rings of Power series. There has even been speculation about an action-adventure adaptation of Farmer Giles of Ham.
However, the next announced film, Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, will draw inspiration from chapters three to eight of Tolkien’s first volume—sections largely omitted from Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy. In fact, these chapters were originally considered expendable by Hollywood.
If you have read Tolkien’s trilogy, you may recall these chapters as those that induce a creeping concern that if the story continued at the same pace as the early tales of Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms, Tom Bombadil, and the ominous trees, the epic might be underwhelming. Although the narrative does intensify later, it unfolds at Tolkien’s own deliberate pace. This pacing is why Jackson chose to bypass much of this material, opting instead for a streamlined pursuit by the Nazgûl that propels the hobbits directly to the village of Bree.
On screen, The Lord of the Rings gained a heightened sense of urgency around its central plot but lost some of the richness that comes from Middle-earth’s older, stranger elements, such as Old Man Willow of the Old Forest and the terrifying Barrow-wights. The adaptation became easier to follow but sacrificed some of the world’s verdant depth.
There is no indication that Shadow of the Past will directly adapt these Tolkien chapters, but reports suggest the film will take them as inspiration. Colbert’s script reportedly follows Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they retrace the initial steps of their original journey, with Sam’s daughter, Elanor, uncovering
“a long-buried secret that explains why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
If chapters three to eight are indeed the source of this mystery, it is reasonable to assume that Tom Bombadil will be central to the story—because who else could it be? Tolkien enthusiasts have long lamented the exclusion of this enigmatic figure from official film adaptations. Although his appearance in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power—which adapts stories from an earlier Middle-earth timeline—was somewhat divisive, few alternatives exist. It is difficult to imagine Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms playing a pivotal role in a Sauron-related conspiracy, and the brief appearances of passing elves like Gildor Inglorion, who offer cryptic advice before disappearing, hardly suggest a hidden master plan.
The challenge lies in either explaining Bombadil—thereby removing his mystery—or not explaining him, which risks producing a costly film that shrugs off its own narrative. Bombadil, Middle-earth’s oldest oddity, is effectively immortal and would certainly be present to witness the next generation of hobbits. Yet it is difficult to envision him as the source of anything directly connected to the original quest. He is immune to stakes, indifferent to the plot, and defies conventional character development. Unless the film’s secret is that he has quietly held the most significant piece of Middle-earth’s backstory without ever revealing it, it will seem odd if the character who can casually pick up the One Ring and forget about it minutes later becomes central to a critical retrospective revelation.
Reports indicate that chapter eight, Fogs on the Barrow-downs, will be a primary focus, suggesting that Bombadil’s role may involve rescuing hobbits once again, as he did in the original book.
The irony is that Tolkien cherished loose ends, songs, and digressions—the sense that Middle-earth extended beyond the main plot. However, it is unlikely he anticipated his work being endlessly scrutinized and adapted nearly a century later. Tolkien was a creator who invented entire languages and developed a pantheon of gods, demigods, and ancient spirits to give his world the impression it could continue existing independently of any narrative attention.
Peter Jackson trimmed much of this for cinematic purposes. Now, Hollywood is revisiting and monetizing the material it once deemed expendable and omitted even from extended editions. The texture of the world has become the text, the appendices have become the main event, and this expansive high fantasy universe seems to be hollowed out to make it feel larger in the pursuit of profit.
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil will likely continue his carefree existence, calling for Goldberry, unaware that he may have become the most important character in Middle-earth—and, paradoxically, perhaps the least interesting.
