Freshly lauded Cannes Palme d’Or honoree Peter Jackson tells us that Stephen Colbert ‘s attachment as writer on a new Lord of the Rings movie, which is being released after 2027’s Hunt for Gollum ) occurred when The Late Show host pitched himself for the gig.

“He was re-reading Lord of the Rings over Christmas and thought this section would make a great film,” Jackson tells us at Cannes.

“He pitched this whole idea… I said it sounds interesting, let’s have a go at this, doing a treatment. Philippa Boyens flew over and Colbert has come down to New Zealand a couple of times.”

“This is before he knew his show was going to get canned.”

“It’s a part of Lord of the Rings that we never filmed.…