Stephen Colbert's surprising next act after 'The Late Show' ends: Co-writing a 'Lord of the Rings' film

Late-night host Stephen Colbert revealed in a video announcement Tuesday that he will co-write the next "Lord of the Rings" movie after his program ends in May.

"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," Colbert said in a video with Peter Jackson, the director of the hit "Lord of the Rings" movies.

Colbert said the next film would be based on "Fog on the Barrow-downs," chapter eight of "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first installment in the fantasy trilogy from J.R.R. Tolkien.

Colbert, Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee will write the script for the film, which is titled "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past," according to Deadline.

Colbert's "The Late Show" is set to end on May 21.

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CBS announced in 2025 that Colbert's program would be canceled this spring. The network said at the time it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

The liberal late-night host addressed rumors about his next move during an appearance on fellow late-night host Seth Meyers' show in January.

Meyers brought up the rumor about Colbert running for office after noting the others, which included a $13.5 million deal with Netflix, which Colbert quipped was "not enough money."

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"Obviously, I mean, that’s something I have to discuss with my faith leader and my family," Colbert said. "And if there is some way for me to serve the American people in some way that could possibly be greater than a late-night television show, I would consider that."

Colbert is a longtime fan of "The Lord of the Rings" series. He hosted panels at the 2014 Comic-Con for "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies," according to Deadline.

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In the video alongside Jackson, Colbert quipped, "It turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer."

The late-night host said he wouldn't have been able to do the show and work on the new movie at the same time.