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It’s been nearly 25 years since Peter Jackson started releasing his epic, groundbreaking “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Hollywood has not gotten tired of Middle-earth. Either Warner Bros. really hopes to reclaim some of that sweet “The Hobbit” money, or the new rights owners for “Lord of the Rings” want to earn back their investment by any means.
This is to say, we’re getting more Middle-earth adventures. “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past” is a sequel set to reunite the hobbits and has Stephen Colbert co-writing the script. On paper, this sounds like a horrible idea, being both a sequel to the perfect ending of the movies but also yet another side story based on a handful of passages.
And yet, I am also cautiously excited about it. Put down your pitchforks and hear me out. I am a J.R.R. Tolkien super-fan, and regard not only his world-building but his writing in extremely high regard. I am also a fan of adaptations making bold choices in order to bring a story to a different medium (I unequivocally love the Prime Video series “The Rings of Power,” which does this very well).
If you look past the initial skepticism of a new “Lord of the Rings” movie, there are actually some interesting things about this announcement — like Stephen Colbert’s involvement in the screenwriting. Colbert is a massive Tolkien scholar and arguably the most knowledgeable super-fan in Hollywood. The way he talks about the world makes it clear he doesn’t just know trivia and quotes, but actually understands the ideas and themes of the books.
Though there are many reasons to be concerned, starting with the high possibility of some truly atrocious de-aging (or worse, AI), “Shadows of the Past” could be something entirely new to this franchise that is actually much closer to Tolkien’s writing.
A melancholic trip down memory lane
New Line CInema
It’s important to note that “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past” is not exactly a new adaptation of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” even if the announcement makes it clear it will bring to the screen chapters three through seven of “The Fellowship of the Ring” (which the movies skipped). Instead, this is a sequel set 14 years after Frodo journeyed West into the Undying Lands. The movie, then, focuses on Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they set on a journey retracing the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, discovers “a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
We obviously don’t know for certain how the film will play out, but it feels like the story could use a narrative framing of the older hobbits going down memory lane, while flashbacks tell the story of their younger days.
From a story perspective, there’s potentially a lot to like here. The chapters do tell a rather complete and self-contained story, with threats, weird creatures, and the appearance of the best “Lord of the Rings” character Peter Jackson cut from the movies, Tom Bombadil.
Having the older hobbits reminiscing about their younger days and the start of their journey sure feels like “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End,” an anime tailor-made for “Lord of the Rings” fans. Indeed, “Frieren” is all about retracing an old adventure and an immortal elf being melancholic about companions long gone and the moments they shared. The narrative framing can give this movie a melancholic tone, with the characters talking about better days in the past, two things that are prevalent all throughout “Lord of the Rings.”
Interrogating the cult of personality
New Line Cinema
One particularly interesting thing about the official description of “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past” is the bit about Sam’s daughter discovering a “long-buried secret” about how the war was nearly lost. In chapter 8, “Fog on the Barrow-Downs,” there’s a passage wherein Frodo is tempted to put on the One Ring and abandon his friends to escape the barrows on his own. Ultimately, he prevails and fights the temptation, but it’s the first big test for Frodo as a ringbearer.
In the books, Frodo doesn’t really tell the others about what happens — but Gandalf finds out because Frodo apparently talks in his sleep. This could make for a fascinating story about Sam’s daughter, Elanor, discovering this secret and her vision of Frodo the hero getting shattered. After all, as great as Peter Jackson’s adaptation is, it does leave out a lot of Frodo’s big moments as a hero, with Sam taking on a more prominent role in the films (at least a more obvious one). The thought of Frodo nearly abandoning his friends but ultimately saving them (with the help of Tom Bombadil) could add depth to the trilogy while making for a complex film about hero worship and the cult of personality.
There’s also the simple fact that the earliest chapters of “The Fellowship of the Ring” are extremely low stakes and small in scope. Though it’s hard to imagine Warner Bros. salivating at the thought of a battle-less “Lord of the Rings,” the huge success of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” pared back prequel series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” indicates audiences are open to the idea of small-scale fantasy stories about nice people on small adventures.
