We’ve just learned that for the past few years, Stephen Colbert and his son Peter have been working on a script for the six chapters that were left out of Peter Jackson’s film version of Fellowship of the Ring, and will be named after one of the missing chapters: The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
We’ve just learned that for the past few years, Stephen Colbert and his son Peter have been working on a script for the six chapters that were left out of Peter Jackson’s film version of Fellowship of the Ring, and will be named after one of the missing chapters: The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
These six chapters fall between Three is Company and Fog on the Barrow-Downs, and happen right before Merry stumbles out of the Old Forest in Fellowship.
During Peter Jackson’s Tolkien Reading Day announcement, he brought Colbert onto a video call to announce the movie.
One of the very last things Jackson asked him was, “Now, do you have the time for this?”
And Colbert said, “I did not think I would have the time, as much as I love it. I knew I couldn’t do that and do this show at the same time, but it turns out that I’m going to be free starting this summer, so…”
“Isn’t that fortunate!” Jackson interjected.
“Isn’t that a ‘eucatastrophe’ right there?” Colbert finished.
Our Tolkien-loving hearts here at Theonering.net glowed at Colbert’s use of eucatastrophe, because the word is symbolic of this production on a number of levels. Not only is “eucatastrophe” a word that Tolkien invented for his paper On Fairy-Stories to mean “The sudden turn toward the good in a hopeless situation,” but Tolkien also posits that all good stories NEED this happy ending.
For Colbert, the eucatastrophe is that after the news that his show was cancelled, he had the time and opportunity to play in the world that he loves, with other creative people that he adores.
For us fans, the eucatastrophe is that we too get another happy ending — we get to play more in this world. Not only will the addition of the chapters add sorely missed content, including Tom Bombadil and the barrow wights (and who knows what else — will we see Freddy Bolger? Knowing Colbert, we might), but the framing of the movie will undoubtedly draw from material that Tolkien himself had to remove from the many endings to Return of the King.
Fans of the books know that the original ending of Return of the King was much longer with MANY more eucatastrophies. This is all detailed in the drafts of Lord of the Rings that Christopher Tolkien preserved in several books — the book of drafts pertaining to Return of the King is Sauron Defeated.
One of the framing devices of the movie, per the Newline presser, is that Elanor Gamgee “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.”
“What?” You might ask. “Why Elanor?”
Well. We find out in Sauron Defeated that Tolkien’s unpublished (except in draft form) original ending of Return of the King is all about the relationship between Sam and his daughter Elanor, and her excitement about meeting the King and Queen of Gondor as they go on a state procession up to Aragorn’s northern kingdom. (Read Sauron Defeated chapter The Epilogue for more!) Yes, the original ending of Return of the King made a hard pivot to Elanor Gamgee as the main character — and the Colberts are restoring this eucatastrophe to us!
It is also fitting that Colbert is working with his son on this script, because the original very last eucatastrophe of Return of the King was Samwise passing on his love of Elves to his daughter, including — eventually — the Red Book of Westmarch (Frodo’s story-within-a-story of Lord of the Rings) itself.
One more easter egg: The name that Christopher Tolkien gave to the book of drafts for Fellowship was Shadow of the Past, taken from the chapter that will begin this fun further adventure. If you want another deep dive into the history behind the writing, start there!
Our friend Jerry Vanderstelt has an amazing new print out – if you haven’t already added this to your collection!
This gorgeous print captures the beautiful Rivendell – but from a different viewpoint than his previous print of the same location. We see a quiet moment between Aragorn and Arwen, most likely before Aragorn sets out to help Frodo destroy the One Ring. Fans can purchase this print right now, ranging in sizes from 16×24 to 24×36, with prices between $85-170 USD depending on the size chosen. If you know Jerry’s work you already know this is another home run piece by him. Get it now, as the paper editions have an edition size of only 2000 pieces.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have unveiled their latest amazing statue fans can pre-order for their collections. If you’re like me and love The Battle of the Last Alliance sequence from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring then you’re going to want to add this to your collection.
Elrond as we see him during the battle is now available for pre-order in 1:6 scale. He joins Elendil, Sauron, and Gil-Galad to create an amazing 4 statue setup of this sequence. Elrond comes in with a price tag of $699 USD, 1350 piece edition size, and will be shipping towards the end of this year. If you’re a fan of The Hobbit Trilogy then you have a chance to add the re-opened open edition of the Smaug Bust or the limited version of Smaug the Golden with an edition size of 900. The open edition of Smaug is $499 USD while the limited edition is coming in at $599 USD, with both due to ship in quarter 2 of this year.
Christmas came a bit early for Tolkien fandom as we learned about Fathom Entertainment bringing the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy back to theaters in early 2026. Yup – the real-deal Extended Editions that stole whole weekends from us for the last 25 years. (No complaints here!) The LOTR Theaters 2026 event gives us another chance to go there and back again!
Tickets are on sale now, and honestly, it feels like the perfect excuse to get back into a theater, turn off the rest of the world, and remember what it was like to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with fans who cheer when Gandalf arrives at dawn and cry when Sam says he can’t carry it for you, but he can carry you.
This isn’t just about seeing the films again; it’s about feeling the Fellowship again. And, honestly, after the last few years, that feels long overdue.
So here’s our ultimate TORn guide to what makes these screenings special and why you absolutely should not miss them.
1. It’s the 25th Anniversary – Crazy!
Twenty five years ago, The Fellowship of the Ring strolled into theaters with tons of hype and basically rearranged our emotional connection to film for an entire generation. A quarter century later (holy crud are we really that old now?!), we’re getting a chance to celebrate the moment that changed fantasy filmmaking forever.
If you saw it in 2001, maybe you get to relive that excitement and nostalgia. If you weren’t old enough or somehow missed it, this is your moment to join the rest of us and say: I finally saw it on the big screen!
2. D-BOX Motion Seats – You Will Literally Feel Middle-earth
If you haven’t tried D-BOX before… oh boy. We think some of these screenings will have this available…
Imagine this:
The Mines of Moria quake underneath you
The Balrog roar vibrates through your seat
The cavalry charge at Helm’s Deep moves your entire body
Troll hits actually jolt your chair
It’s ridiculous and fun and honestly the closest we’ll get to signing waivers saying Yes, please physically toss me around during the Battle of Pelennor Fields.”
If you want immersion, D-BOX is the deluxe tier. It is not for the faint of heart though – so fair warning!
One of the pieces I had been dying to get my order in for, since I saw it at SDCC 2024, was the classic series Boromir. The reason? Well, I fell in love with the choice of the pose and the look of the piece. This is a version I wasn’t sure we’d ever get but was blown away when it happened. When this statue went up for pre-order there were two versions like the recent Legolas statue. You could get the Boromir with 1:4 Horn of Gondor, which was limited to 400 pieces total or you could get the standard classic series. That version is still available for $399 and in-stock. I think this statue is just fantastic with great paint, details, and likeness. I could not be happier to have this in my collection and I hope you will do the same.
If prop replicas are your thing, and I know many a collector who that is their focus, then these awesome pieces by the folks at United Cutlery just might be what you’re looking for.
One of my favourite replica weapons I’ve owned was the original Anduril. Now almost 25 years later if you missed out on that version you can snag this beautiful Museum Collection version. This version of Anduril comes with a beautiful plaque, Gondorian banner, and a certificate of authenticity. This awesome piece by UC is in-stock and ready to ship! You can snag it for $599.
If you’re looking to add to your Legolas collection, you can now add his Lothlorien bow. This is very much one of those pieces I think needs to be in a Legolas themed collection and will really pop once it’s in yours. The Lothlorien bow of Legolas is also in-stock and can be snagged for $469.
Now, if bad guys are your thing. Especially a certain dark lord who may have a thing for one rings then this next piece is for you. This is another museum collection piece so you’re getting all the similar goodies you would get with the Andruil sword only themed for Sauron himself. Sauron’s helm is in-stock as well and ready to ship for $499. Fun note this helm is leather lined so you just might be able to wear it.
