Originally appeared on E! Online
It’s never too late for Stephen Colbert to start a new chapter.
Two months before The Late Show with Stephen Colbert comes to an end, The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson revealed the late-night host is set to “develop the script” for an upcoming film in the franchise.
After announcing that the LOTR team was working with "a very special partner” in a March 25 X video, Peter teased that fans could “see for yourself” who that person would be as Stephen entered the clip in a split-screen, where he could be seen with his nose in a book from the series.
As a self-proclaimed superfan of the novels, Stephen couldn’t hide his excitement over his new role.
"I’m pretty happy about it” he said. “You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me.”
Noting that he wanted to focus the upcoming movie on chapters three through six from the first book, which never made it into the movies, Stephen knew for some time now “that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story.”
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“It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call,” he explained of the script-writing process. “But about two years ago, I did. You liked it enough to talk to me about it.”
And ever since, the two of them have been working together on “how to develop the story.”
Though the 61-year-old has been eyeing the opportunity since before he announced CBS’s cancellation of the late-night franchise—which began with David Letterman in 1993—after 33 years on the air, he shared how the stars aligned for his new role.
“I did not think I would have the time, as much as I love it,” he explained. “I knew I couldn’t do that and do the show at the same time but it turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer.”
Indeed, following 10 years as host on The Late Show, Stephen—dad to kids Madeleine, Peter, and John with wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert—revealed that the show would end in May 2026.
“It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of The Late Show on CBS,” Stephen told his audience in a clip shared to his Instagram July 17. “I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
While lamenting the network’s decision to sunset the franchise—which he explained he had only learned about the day before—the Emmy winner thanked his loyal audience and crew.
“I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us,” he continued. “I'm grateful to share the stage with this band, these artists over here every night. And I am extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.”
"We get to do this show for each other every day, all day,” he added, "and I've had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day with you in front of this camera for the last 10 years.”
But The Late Show isn’t the only franchise going off the air. Keep reading for more TV cancellations…
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