‘The Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert will co-write a ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie.
He’ll work with his son, Peter McGee, and Philippa Boyens.
The working title is ‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past’.
While he’s a well-known Tolkien scholar and ‘Lord of the Rings’ superfan (who had a cameo in one of the ‘Hobbit’ movies), we still didn’t expect to see comedian and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert actually writing a movie set in the world of Middle-earth.
What’s the story of ‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the past’?
(L to R) Sean Austin, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Here’s Colbert talking about the movie:
“The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day. It’s basically chapters ‘Three Is Company’ through ‘Fog on the Barrow-downs,’ and I thought, Oh wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?”
Andy Serkis as Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Right now, the next ‘Rings’ movie to start production will be the Andy Serkis-directed ‘The Hunt for Gollum’, which has a December 17, 2027 release date on the books.
(L to R) Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka and Holly Hunter as Chancellor Nahla Ake in season 1 , episode 1 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Arriving on Paramount+ on January 15 with its first two episodes (followed by one episode weekly) is the first season of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,’ the latest attempt to extend the venerable sci-fi franchise to places where no one has gone before.
(L to R) Robert Picardo as The Doctor, Kerrice Brooks as Sam and Bella Shepard as Genesis in season 1 , episode 1 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Exploring student lives at Starfleet Academy has been a project mooted for years but which never quite came about.
Now, Alex Kurtzman and the current TV ‘Star Trek’ team (Gaia Violo created the series alongside Noga Landau and Kurtzman) have finally managed it, setting the show in the far, far future as explored by ‘Star Trek: Discovery’s later seasons, in a time when the Federation and other space-going organizations are still recovering after the “Burn”, which killed billions and all but ended warp drive travel.
It’s designed as a blend of YA archetypes, with younger characters still finding themselves and a healthy dollop of ‘Star Trek’s moral philosophy, albeit with the harder edge of the Paramount+ series.
Script and Direction
(L to R) George Hawkins, Bella Shepard and Kerrice Brooks in season 1, episode 5 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Kurtzman, Viola and Landau have pulled off quite the trick here –– the combination of fairly different approaches could have been as problematic as mixing matter and antimatter, but here it largely works.
Yes, some of the storylines are burdened with cliches (the bitter loner with a tough past who finds a family among his fellow students! The non-human character learning about humanity! The hard-charging jock/rich boy who seems smug and annoying but has some depth!) and the show’s deep dive into ‘Trek’ history can come across as pandering in a way that ‘Lower Decks’ never did, but once the series starts to find its feet, it turns into something watchable, and one episode early in the run that explores the potential fate of a familiar character from a previous series (no spoilers here), is even effective and affecting.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, Kerrice Brooks as Sam and Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir in season 1 , episode 3 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+.
While the main focus is on the younger characters, it’s the veterans who really impress. Hunter’s fantastic as the long-lived chancellor/captain, forever curling up in command chairs or padding around the Academy barefoot.
When she’s facing off against Giamatti’s half-Klingon/half Tellurite piratical troublemaker, the air crackles with energy.
As for the younger cast, they’re good –– Kerrice Brooks brings truly fun energy as SAM, the “photonic” (read: holographic being) who was created four months before the series starts but is designed to act as a 17-year-old, hoovering up knowledge and interactions.
Meanwhile, Robert Picardo is still supremely fastidious and officious as The Doctor, but has found new levels of humanity to play.
Final Thoughts
Bella Shepard in season 1, episode 1 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Like any youngster finding its way in the world, the new show stumbles a little before it really takes off, but should find a home with both those who enjoy the current ‘Trek’ output (there are humor levels that sometimes rival ‘Strange New Worlds’) and even fans of the various older series.
Plus, with Season 2 in the works, at least you know it’s worth heading back to the final frontier…
‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1 receives 78 out of 100.
(L to R) Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag, George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, Kerrice Brooks as Sam, Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe and Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir in season 1, episode 5 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+.
What’s the plot of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1?
The new series introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism.
Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.
Who stars in ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1?
Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake
Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir
Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag
Kerrice Brooks as SAM (Series Acclimation Mil)
George Hawkins as Darem Reymi Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal
Robert Picardo as the Doctor Tig Notaro as Jett Reno Oded Fehr as Charles Vance Gina Yashere as Lura Thok
Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka Stephen Colbert as the voice of Starfleet Academy’s Digital Dean of Students
Karim Diané in season 1, episode 4 of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Popular host Jimmy Kimmel of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ has seen his show put on indefinite hold (with real concerns it won’t ever return) following comments on the political reaction to the Charlie Kirk assassination that caused a reaction from the FCC and particularly an ABC affiliate that immediately pulled the show from its stations.
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Here’s the comment that Kimmel made on Monday that led to the suspension and the FCC weighing in on the issue:
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel had intended to offer some clarification and address the backlash on his Wednesday night show, but the series is now on hold.
New information has come to light that the Nexstar company in charge of the affiliates is in the midst of a pricey merger deal, which requires FCC approval. And Hollywood –– including the Writers Guild of America and actors union SAG-AFTRA –– have voiced their outrage about the move.
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
Kimmel suspension: the FCC responds
(L to R) Guillermo Rodriguez and Jimmy Kimmel on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’. Photo: ABC.
Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr had threatened to take further action against ABC if the show wasn’t taken off the air.
Here’s what Carr said in a statement:
“I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.”
When will ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ return to screens?
There is, at time of writing, no information on when (or if) the show might come back. Kimmel had been contracted into 2026, but this may encourage him to seek a platform elsewhere.
‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ meanwhile, is scheduled to be on the air until the end of its current season in May 2026.
Host Stephen Colbert announced the shock news at a taping on Thursday.
The President has already hit social media with his delight.
In a shocking announcement during a taping on the show on Thursday this week, ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s host announced that corporate overlords CBS had decided to end the show next year.
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This was the statement on decision from Paramount co-CEO and CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, CBS Entertainment head Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios president David Stapf:
“ ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Though the CBS teams were at pains to stress the reasons for the move, the optics on the decision are not great for the company.
Especially since Colbert has been vocal on the show about his thoughts regarding CBS’ settlement with President Trump in order to facilitate forward movement on its merger with David Ellison’s Skydance company.
And while the financial fortunes of all the late night shows have suffered and traditional networks are tightening their belts in the age of streaming, it’s a particularly bad look at a time when companies have been under attack.
Colbert has –– at least for now, assuming the show doesn’t end earlier than announced –– a chance to make his thoughts very clear in the wake of the cancellation decision.
President Trump naturally took to social media to offer his gleeful response to the cancellation of one of the people who have taken a stand against him:
“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
“Love you Stephen. F**k you and all your Sheldons CBS.”
When will ‘The Late Show’ end?
As of right now, the show is scheduled to come to an end in May 2026.
What will be shown in its place? That’s anyone’s guess at this point, but given the increasingly troubled viewership figures for late night shows, we may well end up with repeats or other series.
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Opening in theaters on July 3rd, ‘Despicable Me 4’s is Illumination Entertainment (and distributor Universal) unleashing the latest salvo of their behemoth franchise.
The success of ‘Despicable’ movies is almost comically predictable at this point, and while the latest offering does very little that’s really new, it seems certain to appeal to the family target audience.
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Though it would be wrong to say that the franchise really matures, the new offering does at least represent the usual evolution of the story, as it finds Steve Carell’s Gru well and truly settled into family life. Yet his villainous past once more comes back to haunt him when a rival threatens his domestic bliss and the Gru clan is forced to retreat to a safe house.
Plus, any movie featuring Gru is contractually obliged to include the Minions, and here there is a new spin on that concept, albeit a slightly tired satire of a genre that has long since been spoofed beyond reason.
Script and Direction
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Written by ‘Despicable’ veteran Ken Daurio and in a slightly surprising turn, Mike White (though ‘The White Lotus’ boss is also credited with last year’s ‘Migration’, also from Illumination), so he’s clearly found a side gig groove with the animation company.
Don’t go expecting any ‘Lotus’-level depth here (not that you would from a knockabout cartoon effort), and the movie is refreshingly free of hackneyed attempts to teach family bonding lessons, mostly because they’ve all been covered before by the ‘Despicable’ movies. The gags come thick and fast, but the main issue with the screenplay and the movie on which they are based is that it all feels like separate elements that eventually try to gel for the big finish, but never feel like they’re all in the same plotline.
Gru, for example, not only has to deal with an old nemesis coming back, but a new potential threat, and the screenplay doesn’t really juggle them as effectively as they might, with several feeling underserved.
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Kudos, though, to the team for two referential jokes that feel like they were layered in specifically for the parents bringing their kids to this one –– particularly a ‘Terminator 2’ moment that really works.
Chris Renaud (another ‘Despicable’ veteran) and Patrick Delage (who has worked his way up from the animation department into more of an overall leadership role here) oversaw direction. And rather than trying to change what was working about the look and feel of the movies, they kept to the basic template –– lots of Minion moments (even if, like the split plotlines, they feel like separate skits that are crowbarred into the story until they serve a point at the end. And even then, they feel like a throwaway afterthought.
If you’re taking kids who are really only there for the squat, chattering, yellow pill-shaped nuisances, you might be better off just re-watching old shorts and moments online.
Performances
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
The voice cast is predictably entertaining –– many of them have been at this franchise long enough to bed into their roles. Where things fall down somewhat is a by-the-numbers script that doesn’t really give them much that’s fresh.
Steve Carell as Gru
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Carell knows how to knock out a Gru line in his sleep these days, but he throws himself into the role with typical relish. He’s a little isolated from the rest of the family for large stretches of the story, but he bounces well off of Joey King, who plays Poppy, a teenager with criminal aspirations of her own.
Will Ferrell as Maxime Le Mal
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Will Ferrell here plays Gru’s old schoolmate and nemesis, but though Ferrell tries out a cod-French accent to try and get something new, he’s rarely all that memorable. An obsession with cockroaches seemingly opens the door to Minion-style madness, but his insect army is established and then quickly forgotten. In the ranks of gadget-obsessed villainy that have cropped up in the movies, Le Mal doesn’t really pop.
And that goes double for his girlfriend, Valentina (Sofia Vergara). It seems clear that either there is more of her role on the cutting room floor, or Vergara spent roughly 10 minutes in the recording booth as Valentina is a largely pointless character.
Stephen Colbert, Kristen Wiig and More
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Stephen Colbert, Carell’s old ‘Daily Show’ colleague is always good value matched against him (here as snooty, preppy new neighbor Perry Prescott.
Kristen Wiig, meanwhile, gets some meatier material as Lucy Wilde, Gru’s wife, including her attempts to become part of the new community where they’re forced to move.
And finally, there’s Gru Jr. the family’s new addition (who mostly just makes gurgling and other infant sounds). He’s a fun diversion, a child who simply doesn’t like his father (until…. Well, that would be spoiling things, but you can guess).
The Minions do their thing as usual, and their superhero spoof is diverting if not really effective at this point when we don’t really need another example of poking fun at the genre.
Final Thoughts
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Gru and co. are such reliable money spinners for Illumination at this point that they could probably just put out 90 minutes of Minions babbling and slapping each other, and family audiences would crack open their wallets to see it.
You might find yourself wishing for something truly revolutionary, but it’s unlikely to disappoint the diehard kiddie fans.
‘Despicable Me 4’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the story of ‘Despicable Me 4’?
Gru (Steve Carrell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and their girls —Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan) — welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.
At the same time, Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.
Everything about Prime Video’s Tolkien adaptation ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ has been gigantic so far. The amount of money that parent company Amazon paid to secure the rights to the author’s appendices, from which this new story is drawn.
The budget lavished on the new show. The size of the cast. The scale. The shoot.
It makes sense, then, that the San Diego Comic-Con panel would be suitably huge. And so it was, taking over the Hall H stage with composer Bear McCreary conducting a live orchestra playing the score for the show and a long event hosted by noted Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert.
While the likes of showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne weren’t willing to reveal all their secrets, they and a selection of their cast did show up to talk about the series – and to show several clips.
Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
‘The Rings of Power’ unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.
The “Second Age” refers to a long period in the history of Middle Earth that ends with the defeat of Sauron and precedes Tolkien’s book and Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy, which take place during the Third Age. The titular Rings of Power were forged in this era and 19 of them were given to elves, dwarves, and humans to incentivize them to support Sauron’s reign. The One Ring, which figures so heavily into the plot of the original trilogy is the most powerful of the 20 (it’s what Frodo and the gang travelled all that way to destroy, after all). The official description mentions an evil even greater than Sauron, which probably points Morgoth, a god-like creature who tried to rule Middle-earth – and that had Sauron serving as his general.
A key part of this first season is The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), who crashes down to Middle-earth from the sky with a comet that brings cold fire. The team wouldn’t be drawn on who he might be, but he’s certainly likely to be important.
For these stories, the focus is more on characters such as Galadriel, the powerful elf played in the movies by Cate Blanchett, but brought to life here by Morfydd Clark.
Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Clark was among the cast members who showed up to talk about make-up struggles, the challenges of shooting and their joy at bringing Tolkien’s world to life.
Among the highlights? Sophia Nomvete, who plays female dwarf Disa, one of the first to be featured prominently in a Tolkien adaptation.
And, as is traditional for Comic-Con, the panel featured plenty of clips that are, sadly, not going to be made public (we’ll just have to wait for the show itself). A new trailer, however, did make its way online and you can see that below.
‘The Lord of the Rings’: The Rings of Power will be on Prime Video starting 2 September.
(L to R) Owain Arthur (Prince Durin IV), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), and Benjamin Walker (High King Gil-galad) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Owain Arthur (Prince Durin IV) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Nazanin Boniadi (Bronwyn), and Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Queen Regent Míriel) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Charlie Vickers (Halbrand) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Robert Aramayo (Elrond)in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), and Fabian McCallum in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Trystan Gravelle (Pharazôn), and Ema Horvath (Eärien) in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.Morfydd Clark is Galadriel in Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
The “Late Show” host had Kit Harington (Jon Snow) in the hot seat during Tuesday’s episode of the late-night series, and he questioned the actor about what happens in the final season of “Game of Thrones.” Of course, Harington couldn’t reveal much of anything. HBO is notoriously protective of the hit fantasy drama’s secrets.
Colbert did manage to find a creative way to try to get information out of Harington. With a camera closely focused on the “GoT” star’s face, Colbert peppered him with, er, interesting theories about how the show ends. It was a true test of Harington’s poker face — and to be honest, the actor failed pretty miserably.
Watch Colbert’s interview with Harington below. Colbert starts sharing his theories around the 9:55-mark.
The final season of “Game of Thrones” premieres Sunday, April 14 at on HBO.
It’s gonna take a lot more than a spoonful of sugar to make Brexit to go down.
In a spoof on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Mary Poppins takes on the zombie apocalypse triggered by the U.K.’s successful exit from the European Union. But this version of the nanny isn’t as charming as Emily Blunt’s version in “Mary Poppins Returns.”
“It’s every nanny for herself,” the battle-ready Mary says as she reveals her magical umbrella is actually a machine gun. “Now let’s go fly a kite … in Hell!”
There’s even a new song: “Supercalifragilisticexpiali … Oh sh–!”
The Poppins spoof comes just a couple days after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down by Parliament in a historic defeat.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog strikes again — this time, to savagely bite Senator Ted Cruz.
Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” sent Triumph down to Texas to interview Cruz and Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke.
The foul-mouthed canine got some humorous digs in at O’Rourke, saying “Trust me, if Beto wants to stop border crossings quicker than Ted Cruz, they could just play his album down there.”
But he saved his harshest zingers for Cruz. “I support spaying and neutering just like Trump did to you,” he said.
He also sniped: “I’m not saying Ted Cruz supports racist policies, but he was just given the 9 a.m. hour of the ‘Today’ show.”
Triumph also enjoyed baiting the two candidates’ supporters. He called O’Rourke fans “a terrifying swarm of degenerate young leftists with one thing in common — they all share the same Netflix account.”
John Krasinski is Jack Ryan now — and he’s not here for your Harrison Ford comparisons.
Krasinski was on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last night, trying to promote his new Amazon series. He worked hard to prove to Colbert that he’s an “action guy” now — and not just a nice guy who does comedy, like Jim from “The Office.”
And yet — even in the end, after defeating his nemesis in true action hero fashion — Krasinski looked in the camera to gloat. As Colbert noted, while falling action villain style from the roof of a building: “That’s soooo Jiiiiiiimmmm!”
“The Office” alum was “forced” to do 10 push-ups to prove his action chops. (The audience appreciated that.) And he had a classic stunt fight bit with Colbert. (Shout-out to the photo on the wall of Krasinski’s wife and “A Quiet Place” co-star Emily Blunt.)
No action film is complete without an elevator fight, and this one had a cameo from Krasinski’s “The Office” co-star Ellie Kemper.
Watch the whole thing; the action bit starts around the 3:05 mark:
Stephen Colbert does have a nice villain beard now. It works.
