Elijah Wood says he would return as Frodo Baggins for Shadows of the Past if Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings project is officially greenlit, but the film has not yet cleared that hurdle.
Speaking with The Direct while promoting his animated series Among Us, Wood offered a measured read on the situation: “We’re not there yet.” But when asked whether he would sign on once the studio moves forward, he confirmed, “certainly in theory, yeah.” He praised the production’s creative team, calling the project “the best Tolkien scholarly hands.”
The film would adapt six chapters Jackson cut from the opening act of The Fellowship of the Ring for his 2001 adaptation: “Three is Company,” “A Short Cut to Mushrooms,” “A Conspiracy Unmasked,” “The Old Forest,” “In the House of Tom Bombadil,” and “Fog on the Barrow-Downs.” Wood noted the logic behind those cuts, noting the chapters “would have killed momentum.” Jackson believed that Tolkien’s unhurried journey from Bag End to Bree might work in a book in ways that simply don’t translate to a film
BUT… Those chapters contain some of the most beloved material in the book, and I’ve never been satisfied with Jackson leaving them out. Tom Bombadil is the biggest omission… In The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Letter #144), Tolkien wrote that Bombadil represents “the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside,” describing him as “the master” who has “renounced control.” He is immune to the One Ring, impossible to categorize, and because of that, genuinely resistant to any straightforward screen adaptation.
The Barrow-wights chapters carry meaning and plot for the rest of story. In “Fog on the Barrow-Downs,” the hobbits receive their barrow-blades, including the blade Merry uses to wound the Witch-king at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Their absence from Jackson’s films left that payoff without its proper origin.
The reported synopsis places the film “14 years after the passing of Frodo,” with Sam, Merry, and Pippin retracing the adventure while Sam’s daughter Elanor uncovers a long-buried secret. IMDb briefly listed all four original hobbit actors, including Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd alongside Wood, though Wood told The Direct he was unaware of that listing. No official greenlight and no release date have been announced. Wood is also confirmed in a small role in Andy Serkis’s Hunt for Gollum, currently slated for December 2027.
