Colbert reacts to 'Lord of the Rings' fans outraged over his involvement in upcoming film
Late-night host Stephen Colbert shrugged off condemnation from "Lord of the Rings" fans who are upset he will be taking the helm of an upcoming movie.
Colbert has spoken out about the cancellation of "The Late Show" in multiple interviews — most recently with The Hollywood Reporter — which also highlighted the next steps of his career.
"If there is a silver lining to Colbert’s unexpected ouster, it’s that he is now able to be intimately involved in co-writing an installment of the Lord of the Rings film franchise," The Hollywood Reporter wrote. "The project is already six years in the making and a lifelong dream for the self-proclaimed superfan."
"You’ve announced your next act: a Lord of the Rings film. Naturally, there’s a contingent of the LOTR fan community that’s miffed: 'Why does Stephen get to write this? Just because he’s famous and a superfan?'" The Hollywood Reporter interviewer asked. "Tell them why they should trust you."
"I mean, there’s no reason to," Colbert said. "And there’s no value in me addressing that because all you can do as — I’ll use a loaded term here — an artist is follow your heart and the craft that you have learned to try to turn this into something that is not fandom but drama."
"And luckily, I don’t have to do this alone," he continued. "I have a great Sherpa in [co-writer and LOTR veteran] Philippa Boyens, who cares about it in the same way I do. And I will just say that every moment has been a joy so far."
STEPHEN COLBERT HAD LEFT-WING JOURNALISTS, HOSTS ON 'THE LATE SHOW' MORE THAN 200 TIMES
Colbert initially revealed in a video announcement in March that he will co-write the next "Lord of the Rings" movie after his show ends this month.
"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 "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 book in the fantasy trilogy from J.R.R. Tolkien.
The series written by Tolkien, a devout Catholic, became a popular franchise with conservatives. Some on the left, including MS NOW anchor Rachel Maddow, have even claimed the work has been embraced by the "far-right."
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Some fans argue they have good reason to be concerned about new "Lord of the Rings" content. Amazon’s "Rings of Power" series, notably separate from Jackson's film adaptations, was widely criticized as a modern, liberal take on the classic literature.