Soon-to-be former host of The Late Show and Tolkien mega fan Stephen Colbert has officially announced he’s developing a new The Lord of the Rings movie with the one and only Peter Jackson.

The news comes as Andy Serkis ramps up production on The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will mark the franchise’s first live-action theatrical return since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Serkis’ film will take place before Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin set off on the first leg of their journey to Rivendell, with Aragorn and Gandalf “hunting for Gollum” before he can reveal the location of the One Ring to Sauron’s spies.

Colbert’s film, on the other hand, which is reportedly titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past (a nod to the second chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring), will take place right at the beginning of Frodo’s tenure as Ring-bearer, covering six chapters that had been largely left out of Peter Jackson’s original adaptation, from Fellowship‘s “Chapter 3: Three Is Company” to “Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs.” Jackson and Colbert revealed the news in a special announcement video, which you can watch below:

In the Shadow of the Past announcement video, Colbert explained that he wanted to tell this story while remaining “completely faithful” to the timeline established in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Together with his screenwriter son, Peter McGee, he developed a “framing device” that would allow this additional adventure to fit seamlessly into the franchise’s movie canon. Jackson and his long-time Middle-earth writing partner, Philippa Boyens, are also working on the script.

Following Colbert and Jackson’s announcement, Warner Bros. released an official synopsis for The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, which reveals the narrative framing device Colbert mentioned during his speech (via Entertainment Weekly):

“Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo — 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.”

In the book, the Hobbits’ trek through the Shire is much longer and more arduous. While Jackson’s movie briefly hints at what happens throughout the Shire, including the foursome being hunted by Sauron’s Black Riders, the most impactful part of these chapters is undoubtedly Frodo and his friends’ encounter with old Tom Bombadil and his wife, Goldberry. Jackson’s decision to omit Bombadil from his adaptation remains a point of discussion to this day.

Tom Bombadil is, strangely, one of the most powerful characters in Tolkien’s legendarium, though it’s unclear where he comes from or what his true purpose is. He’s the “Eldest,” older than anything else in Middle-earth. Essentially, he’s a protector of the natural world, “Master of wood, water, and hill,” as Goldberry describes, and he saves Frodo’s friends from being strangled to death by a magical, sentient tree. Most importantly, Bombadil is completely unaffected by the power of the One Ring.

The synopsis implies that the movie will be split between two timelines, so there’s a chance some of the original actors from Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies will return, including Sean Astin as Sam, Billy Boyd as Pippin, and Dominic Monaghan as Merry. However, no casting news has been confirmed. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen are both returning for The Hunt for Gollum, though, so anything is possible.

With Stephen Colbert and Peter Jackson at the helm of The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, both movie fans and book purists have another exciting Middle-earth project to look forward to.