New Lord of the Rings movie in the works centered around Tom Bombadil

MGibster · 2026-03-25T17:25:42+0000

We’re making a movie from the worst part of the book? I can only imagine die hard Tolkien fans will be interested.

ART! · 2026-03-25T17:26:34+0000

Reynard said:
Other reports suggest this film is set well after the Return of the King and folds in elements of Return of the Shadow. So Tom will appear in a sequel to LotR, if the reports hold.

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
My understanding that the post-LotR stuff, with Sam's daughter, is a framing device, but the meat of the story will be the hobbits encountering the wraiths, etc., while on their first trip out of the Shire during Fellowship.

I saw this story covered over at Dark Horizons, and it says this film will be

"...set fourteen years after the passing of Frodo. The hobbits Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.

[It] will adapt chapters that introduced Tom Bombadil and the famed “Fogs on the Barrow-downs” which involves the sinister Barrow-wights."

Reynard · 2026-03-25T17:32:28+0000

ART! said:
I saw this story covered over at Dark Horizons, and it says this film will be

"...set fourteen years after the passing of Frodo. The hobbits Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.

[It] will adapt chapters that introduced Tom Bombadil and the famed “Fogs on the Barrow-downs” which involves the sinister Barrow-wights."

Yeah, flashback city.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-25T17:33:12+0000

ART! said:
I saw this story covered over at Dark Horizons, and it says this film will be

"...set fourteen years after the passing of Frodo. The hobbits Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.

[It] will adapt chapters that introduced Tom Bombadil and the famed “Fogs on the Barrow-downs” which involves the sinister Barrow-wights."

So, maybe a flashback or maybe they're moving Tom Bombadil and the wights forward to the "present day."

Either way, an interesting choice.

Benjamin Olson · 2026-03-25T17:34:18+0000

Well, I'm not convinced that this isn't just setting up a very elaborate April fools prank for next week, but I'd probably like it better than I do Rings of Power.

Eventually every stray sentence Tolkien wrote will be adapted into a massive cinematic extravaganza. Except the Silmarillion.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-25T17:35:10+0000

Benjamin Olson said:
Eventually every stray sentence Tolkien wrote will be adapted into a massive cinematic extravaganza. Except the Silmarillion.

Colbert is actively campaigning to adapt one of its stories next.

Morrus · 2026-03-25T17:35:29+0000

Glad to see Colbert has a job lined up.

Ralif Redhammer · 2026-03-25T17:36:34+0000

To my eye, there's more meat to those chapters of Lord of the Rings that the movie cut than there is the Hunt for Gollum. But there are so many ways this could go wrong. Doing it as an animated movie with the original actors returning to their roles seems the easiest. But it also feels like it would be the least fulfilling. Keeping the original actors in a live-action movie filmed close to 30 years later just wouldn't work. Elijah Wood may still look young, but put him back in Frodo's costume and the years would tell. I think the best choice is re-casting, but that's going to be a tall order. But one, as franchises continue to span decades, generations, I think we all need to get used to.

MarkB said:
If they're making a Tom Bombadil movie, it'd better be a musical.

Tom Bombadil's appearance in Rings of Power shows just how ill a fit the more portentous side of Jackson's style is for the character. He needs whimsy and brightness.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-25T17:39:11+0000

Ralif Redhammer said:
I think the best choice is re-casting, but that's going to be a tall order. But one, as franchises continue to span decades, generations, I think we all need to get used to.

It's weird that, outside of James Bond, Doctor Who and Batman, audiences freak out when characters are recast. I don't get it, myself.