Two of your favorite screen stars are going literary.

Stephen Colbert, the recently defenestrated late night host, is co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie.

A long time Tolkien fan—real ones will remember his cameo in 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug—Mr. Colbert will be pulling a Bilbo and teaming up with a younger family member and a seasoned expert to complete this mission. In this case, the allies include Philippa Boyens (a veteran of the Tolkienverse), and Peter McGee (Colbert’s screenwriter son).

Colbert told NPR that the film will adapt six early chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in the famous trilogy.

These chapters didn’t make it into Peter Jackson’s adaptation—not even the extended version. That’s likely because the span of narrative between “Three is company” and “Fog on the Barrow-downs” mostly concerns wrapping up loose traveling ends. Before the gang has even left the Shire.

This is exhausting news for those of us with doubts about the split-the-baby approach when it comes to stretching out franchised IP. But it is wonderful news for the the Tom Bombadil truthers. So, yours truly sits on the fence.

Elsewhere in Hollywood, another celeb has been hard at work on a bookish boondoggle. (Or, ahem, passion project!) Please read the following sentence twice to cement it in your grey matter: Channing Tatum has written a romance novel with Roxane Gay.

Slated for imminent release, the book apparently follows a pair of friends who make a pact to marry at 40. Spoiler alert? They wind up falling in love.

Gay, the bestselling author of Bad Feminist, Hunger, and Difficult Women, has been a prolific writer and vocal romance enthusiast for years. But despite some prior experience in children’s literature, Tatum is an actor/producer best known for bringing honor to Ginuwine.

As Gay told Dua Lipa on a recent episode of Service95—the pop star’s literary podcast/book club—this unlikely collaboration is the result of some journalistic sleuthing on Magic Mike’s part. And we’ve already had the privilege of reporting that the Gay/Tatum fellowship has been quite a joyful one.

Which all just goes to show. Chase your dreams, kids. If you write what you love with a lovable (ideally famous!!!) buddy, the readers will come. Out of curiosity, if nothing else.

In another plot twist straight outta the ever-extending multiverse, Gay described her and Tatum’s book to Colbert(!) last year. Their novel apparently features “a voluntary arranged marriage…with lots and lots of sex in a bakery.” No argument here.

Maybe this time next year, we’ll get to hear Stephen’s reports from Crickhollow and the Old Forest. As told to Dua Lipa, of course.