UPDATE: Warner Bros. has since contacted me to stress that the project hasn't been scrapped and remains in development. However, that’s consistent with the original report, which never said it had been canceled.
EARLIER: Hey, look at that — with the Paramount Pictures–Warner Bros. merger now official, David Ellison, who fired Colbert from his late-night talk show, is now in charge of Stephen Colbert's recently announced ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie, ‘Shadow of the Past.’
Bad news, Stephen. Your archnemesis has struck again. Knight Edge Media has learned that Ellison is hitting pause on Colbert's LOTR movie. The film was originally rumored to begin shooting shortly after ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ Now, with Paramount and Warner Bros. fully merged, and with Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy no longer with the company, Colbert's film might never get made.
Colbert is once again at the mercy of Ellison.
If you recall, it was revealed earlier this year that Colbert had spent the past two years writing ‘Shadow of the Past’ with his son and ‘Lord of the Rings’ alum Philippa Boyens. It was described as a flashback film that would include the six chapters of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ that never made it into the original film, such as the Old Forest, the Barrow-downs, and Tom Bombadil.
According to KEM's sources, the new studio simply doesn't see ‘Lord of the Rings’ as being as profitable as it once was and "wants to see how ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ does before greenlighting more projects." Fair enough. If you remember, the more recent animated LOTR movie, ‘The War of the Rohirrim,’ did not do well at the box office.
The only good news for Tolkien diehards is that it's too late for Ellison to stop production of ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ The film is almost done shooting and is expected to hit theaters on December 17, 2027.
It should also be mentioned that Serkis, is working on another LOTR film, separate from ‘Gollum,’ but no details have been revealed about that particular project. It is rumored to potentially take place after the events of 2003’s ‘Return of the King.’ Whether Ellison has paused that one as well remains to be seen
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