# Stephen Colbert's Tolkien Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth, movies\ **Created:** [March 25, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748 "2026-03-25T11:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/41 "2026-03-27T14:22:27Z")
Almost no one is looking for _Chronicles of Amber_ anything, it would probably go over as well as John Carter. Middle-Earth has a very large built in audience. Please note I was a fan of both the Amber Series and the John Carter of Mars series. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/42 "2026-03-27T14:36:31Z")
oh I know, there is very little demand for it (sigh). At least they made a John Carter movie though! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/43 "2026-03-29T03:51:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **War of Rohirrim** was surprisingly good, especially compared the 2nd & 3rd Hobbit movies and Rings of Power. > > It was nothing compared to the first 3 live action movies though. [I said this:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/982) > [@Kimstu](#): > > I wasn’t particularly thrilled by it, but found it an interesting mashup of the Peter Jackson LoTR universe (which itself is kind of a mutated version of the original Tolkien) and Japanese fantasy anime, with a definite fanfiction vibe. > > It did take a while to get into the film; it still kind of weirds me out to hear ostensibly Middle-earth characters saying things that Tolkien didn’t actually write. But overall, I support the Middle-earth saga becoming a genuine folk epic, and that means reimaginings at all different levels of “authenticity” by different creators. Naturally, not all folk are going to like all of them. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/44 "2026-03-30T04:39:44Z")
Envisioning this movie, and I’m worried it might be a musical about Tom Bombadil. The other option might be even worse though, that it is about Tom Bombadil and is not a musical. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/45 "2026-03-30T05:30:17Z")
My skepticism is that, just by going by the events that actually happen in those chapters, it doesn’t feel like enough to actually make an interesting movie, unless you are a _serious_ Tolkien-head. Those chapters start after Gandalf reveals to Frodo what the Ring actually is, and assigns him the quest to take it to Rivendell, but wrap up before they reach Bree. There’s a couple of tense scenes (the first encounter with a Nazgul – which is already in the Fellowship movie, Old Man Willow, and the Barrow), but there’s not really a beginning nor an ending in there. Which all makes me concerned that, like the _Hobbit_ films, there will be a lot of inventing more encounters and fights out of whole cloth, in order to pad out the time, and make it something even remotely resembling a self-contained tale. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/46 "2026-03-30T12:30:41Z")
Judging by the comments, the world will never get enough Tolkien material. Like Potter, Dune, King Kong, and the Bible, it will forever be redone. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/47 "2026-03-30T12:41:10Z")
I agree that it might be unsatisfying to present the 6 chapters as a linear narrative. Lots of temptation to add unfaithful padding. In the video, Colbert refers to a framing device. Maybe the chapters are told individually as flashbacks (sort of vignettes) while working through a different conflict in the present? Or something similar? I could see 90-120 minutes of that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/48 "2026-04-17T20:12:29Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Envisioning this movie, and I’m worried it might be a musical about Tom Bombadil. The other option might be even worse though, that it is about Tom Bombadil and is not a musical. Well, in the books, he _does_ sing… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748/49 "2026-04-17T20:29:56Z")
The worst part about the audio-books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-colberts-tolkien-movie/1028748.md?page=2)