Warner Bros. and New Line have officially announced a new Lord of the Rings movie titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, and joining the writing team is a name every Middle-earth fan should know. Philippa Boyens, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind the original trilogy, is co-writing the script alongside television host Stephen Colbert and his son Peter McGee.
The announcement came on March 25, 2026, through a social media video featuring director Peter Jackson, who confirmed the project is moving forward. Colbert revealed that he and Boyens have been working on developing the story for the past two years.
The Master Storyteller Behind The Lord of the Rings
Philippa Boyens is a New Zealand screenwriter born in Auckland in 1962 or 1963. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and History from the University of Auckland in 1994, but her connection to Middle-earth started long before that—she had read The Lord of the Rings books seven times before joining the film projects.
Boyens made her screenwriting debut on Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings trilogy. Her work earned her an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004. She also received Oscar nominations for her work on The Fellowship of the Ring and has been nominated for multiple Saturn Awards throughout her career.
Beyond Middle-earth, Boyens has built an impressive filmography. She co-wrote Jackson’s 2005 King Kong remake, the 2009 supernatural drama The Lovely Bones, and the 2018 sci-fi film Mortal Engines. She also served as a co-producer on District 9.
Her Ongoing Return to Tolkien’s World
Boyens never really left Middle-earth. After the original trilogy, she co-wrote and co-produced The Hobbit trilogy. More recently, she produced and developed the story for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the anime feature that released in December 2024.
She is also currently co-writing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the upcoming film directed by and starring Andy Serkis. That project is scheduled for release on December 17, 2027.
Speaking about The Hunt for Gollum in a recent interview with Empire magazine, Boyens teased what fans can expect:
“It’s an adventure story with a really strong psychological, interior story that’s going on as well.”
What the New Movie Is About
The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past takes place 14 years after the events of The Return of the King. The story follows Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they look back on their past adventures. It will adapt chapters 3 through 8 from The Fellowship of the Ring book—specifically the sections titled “Three is Company” through “Fog on the Barrow-Downs”—which were largely not included in the original 2001 film.
The movie will use a framing device where Sam’s daughter, Elanor, uncovers a hidden secret about why the War of the Ring was almost lost before the hobbits’ story truly began.
Boyens’ Deep Family Connection to Middle-earth
The Tolkien universe runs in Boyens’ family. Her daughter, Phoebe Gittins, played a Hobbit in The Fellowship of the Ring and appeared as a Prancing Pony waitress in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Her son, Calum Gittins, played the character Haleth in The Two Towers.
In a December 2024 interview with io9, Boyens reflected on the original trilogy’s unexpected success:
“We had absolutely no idea that our work would have such a deep cultural impact. We were just trying to make it work as a film. Trying to make sure that we were doing something that was going to work on film for its own sake. We had no concept of like blockbusters or anything like that at all. I can honestly say that.”
She also spoke about the challenge of adapting Tolkien’s work, telling Variety back in 2000:
“One of the challenges in adapting the book has been making room for everything that’s brilliant. It’s also been one of the hardest things coping with the structures within the book. Nine characters on a quest? If you were starting from scratch, you wouldn’t do it. The gift of the books is the wonderful characters you get to bring to life.”
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What Comes Next
The Hunt for Gollum will arrive in theaters first, with a planned release date of December 17, 2027. Shadow of the Past does not yet have a release date, as production is expected to begin after Serkis’ film wraps. Both movies are being produced by Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films, with Boyens, Jackson, and Fran Walsh serving as producers.
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