Elijah Wood provides an interesting update on Stephen Colbert’s upcoming Lord of the Rings movie. Wood previously played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy.
What is the casting update for Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings movie?
In an interview (via The Direct), Wood said that he hasn’t been officially tapped to return as Frodo in the movie yet. This is despite the film’s IMDb page listing him in the cast. However, Wood’s comments sound like that’s the direction things will ultimately be heading.
“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.”
Wood further suggested that if the film moves forward, it would make sense “in theory” for Frodo to appear. He added that he was “beyond thrilled” that Colbert is writing the film.
The feature, tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, will be based on “Fogs on the Barrow-downs,” one of the unadapted chapters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. However, a previous Deadline report stated that it will be set “14 years after the passing of Frodo” and also revealed that it’ll include Tom Bombadil, a fan-favorite character.
The film is being written by Stephen Colbert with his son Peter McGee and Philippa Boyens. There is no release date attached to the film yet.
That’s not the only Lord of the Rings movie in development. Andy Serkis is directing and starring in The Hunt for Gollum, which is set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies. The Hunt for Gollum will be released on December 17, 2027.
