Iconic TV Night Host to write next ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie

When he ends his 11-year run as host of “The Late Show” in May, Stephen Colbert will co-write and develop a new film in the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” franchise.

Colbert and director Peter Jackson revealed the news in a video announcement.

“I’m pretty happy about it … you know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me,” the late-night host told Jackson, who led the Oscar-winning team behind the nearly $6 billion original “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies.

'Shadow of the Past'

Colbert said it will be based on parts of Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” book that didn’t make it into the original movies, according to CNN.

He’s been batting around ideas with his son, Peter McGee and Phillipa Boyens, both screenwriters to develop story lines. “I could not be happier to say that they loved it, and so that’s what we’re going to be working on,” Colbert said.