Kinonews.ru: Warner Bros. Pauses Shadow of the Past After Paramount Merger

Production on the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past movie has been paused following the official merger of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., kinonews.ru reported. Paramount head David Ellison has frozen the new adaptation, which was being written by late-night host Stephen Colbert alongside his son and Philippa Boyens, who worked on Peter Jackson’s film trilogies.

According to Knight Edge Media, new studio leadership wants to see how The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum performs at the box office before deciding the fate of subsequent franchise projects. The cautious approach may also have been influenced by the poor box-office performance of the anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Colbert Writes Flashback Story Covering Omitted Book Chapters

Announced in the spring of 2026, Shadow of the Past was initially expected to begin filming in New Zealand shortly after the completion of The Hunt for Gollum. Sources noted that Colbert had spent two years working on the script, which was described as a flashback story intended to cover six chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring that were omitted from the original film, including episodes in the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs, as well as the meeting with Tom Bombadil.

Although the project has not been permanently canceled and authors continue working on draft scripts, the studio has no plans to launch shooting in the near future. Changes at the company following the merger could also lead to future adaptations dropping Peter Jackson’s team in favor of other authors.

Status of The Hunt for Gollum

The production pause has not affected The Hunt for Gollum, which remains in active production. Its international premiere is currently scheduled for December 2027, while Shadow of the Past currently holds no release date.