Elijah Wood Hints Frodo Could Return in Stephen Colbert's LORD OF THE RINGS Movie
Fans have been curious ever since Stephen Colbert revealed he was developing his own Lord of the Rings movie, and now Elijah Wood has offered an update that should give Tolkien fans a reason to be optimistic.
Wood, who famously played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s beloved The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently addressed the project during an interview via The Direct. While he confirmed that he hasn't officially been asked to reprise his iconic role, his comments certainly make it sound like that's the direction the project is headed.
Wood explained: “Okay. Well, it hasn’t.. We’re not there yet… But listen, I think the implication is that the stories that Stephen [Colbert] wants to tell, which are the six chapters that were not committed to film in Fellowship of the Ring, largely because they would have slowed the process of the journey down, because when he leaves Bag End and the Shire, and he has to get to Bree, if it had gone the meandering way that it does in the books, it just would have taken a long time to get to Bree, and… it would have killed momentum.”
Even though IMDb currently lists Wood as part of the cast, he made it clear nothing has been finalized. Still, based on the story Colbert wants to tell, it certainly sounds like Frodo would have a natural place in the film.
Wood went on to say that it would make sense "in theory" for Frodo to appear, and he added that he was “beyond thrilled” that Colbert is writing the movie.
The project is currently carrying the working title The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past and will adapt "Fogs on the Barrow-downs," one of the chapters from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring that didn't make it into Jackson's films.
This film pulls from sections of The Fellowship of the Ring that didn’t make it into The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Specifically, it covers Chapters III through VIII, meaning we’ll finally see characters and moments that were skipped before, including Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, and the eerie barrow wights.
The story isn’t just filling in gaps though. It also pushes forward. The official logline reads: "Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
That setup gives the film a dual identity. It works as a continuation of the story while also weaving in events that happened before the War of the Ring fully unfolded. It’s a clever angle that could make the movie feel both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.
The screenplay is being written by Colbert alongside his son Peter McGee and Philippa Boyens, one of the Oscar-winning writers behind Jackson's original trilogy. There's currently no release date attached to the project.
Of course, this isn't the only journey back to Middle-earth on the horizon. Andy Serkis is directing and starring in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies. That film is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 17, 2027.