According to some recent Barside Buzz there could be some ‘speed bumps’ causing issues with the development of LOTR: The Shadows of the Past. Shadows of the Past was seen as a sequel of sorts and the second part of a new trilogy (not a real trilogy) of new LOTR movies. LOTR: The Hunt for Gollum is filming now and it was announced Tolkienite Stephen Colbert was developing the script for Shadows of the Past with his son.
However, that was before Paramount bought Warner Bros. and Skydance (The new combined name supposedly) boss David Ellison has already sacked Colbert from his CBS show.
A new report from Caleb Williams over at KEM claims to have been told that development may just be slowing down a bit. The insider claims that Skydance do not view The Lord of the Rings franchise as valuably as the previous WB regime did. That they intend to wait and see how The Hunt for Gollum performs before pushing into Shadows of the Past. There’s no real relation between the films that we know of, outside that they both take place within the narrative of the trilogy already made.
Skydance reached out to Williams to say the film is not cancelled, but that’s not what the story claimed anyway.
RELATED: Stephen Colbert And Son Writing Next The Lord Of The Rings Movie – Shadows of the Past For WB
If I’m being honest, I’d be more interested in Colbert’s film that I am The Hunt for Gollum. However, really that’s just because I would hope a nerd as big as me would get the little things right. The reality though is this.
WB made the LOTR trilogy and then stretched out The Hobbit into a trilogy no one really liked. That’s it, that’s the story, the rest (outside small snippets) is off-page or written in a historical account. WB do not even have the rights to any content from The Silmarillion if they were to truly aim for the stars as it were.
But WB…now Skydance will absolutley milk this franchise for every penny they can get until no one cares about it anymore. The process is already begun. Either try to buy the rights for The Silmarillion and make a Ben-hur level epic, or leave it alone is my thoughts. Even then I don’t think they’d do The Silmarillion justice.
Will we ever get LOTR: Shadows of the Past? I think it will very much depend on how many bums on seats they get for The Hunt for Gollum. I could also absolutley see Colbert being replaced if and when this film gets a greenlight. Thoughts below.
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