On Oct. 4, rumors emerged that Stephen Colbert's Lord of the Rings project, which the TV host revealed in March 2026, was "paused" as a consequence of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. The story was reported by Knight Edge Media, but it seems that Lord of the Rings fans can rest easy.
In March 2026, Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson announced a new Lord of the Rings movie project, created in partnership with now-former host of The Late Show Stephen Colbert and his son, screenwriter Peter McGee. Philippa Boyens, screenwriter on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, also joined the project, tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, which got the green light from New Line and Warner Bros. The merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. has sparked many rumors about the highest-profile projects now belonging to the new company Skydance, but The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past doesn't seem to be affected.
The original report from Knight Edge Media mentioned no specific source for the "exclusive" news. Screen Rant's Rob Keyes first tagged the report as "inaccurate" in a post on X on Oct. 5, mentioning that "Status is exactly as it was weeks ago. They're still writing, no confirmed budget or shoot date, etc." Warner Bros. also reached out to Knight Edge Media, which added the following update at the bottom of the story:
"WB has reached out to reiterate that it is not 'canceled' and is still in development.
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