# The Lord of the Rings film trilogy *The Fellowship of the Ring · The Two Towers · The Return of the King* - Work: Film - Date: 2001–03 - Made by: Peter Jackson (Director, co-writer & producer); Alan Lee (Conceptual designer; Oscar-winning set decorator (The Return of the King)); John Howe (Conceptual designer) - Platforms: Theatrical, DVD extended editions - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/works/lord-of-the-rings-film-trilogy/ > Peter Jackson shot all three films at once in New Zealand, and turned Tolkien's unfilmable epic into a $3 billion, 17-Oscar landmark. **Why it matters:** The trilogy proved that high fantasy could be prestige cinema and a global blockbuster at the same time. It reset what audiences expected from dragons-and-swords stories on screen, and it brought millions of new readers and players to Middle-earth. ## Quick answers **When was The Lord of the Rings film trilogy first released?** The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was first released in 2001–03. **Who created The Lord of the Rings film trilogy?** The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was made by Peter Jackson (director, co-writer & producer), Alan Lee (conceptual designer; Oscar-winning set decorator (The Return of the King)) and John Howe (conceptual designer). **What kind of work is The Lord of the Rings film trilogy?** The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is a film in the Fantasy Film and High / Epic Fantasy tradition, released for Theatrical and DVD extended editions. **Why is The Lord of the Rings film trilogy important?** The trilogy proved that high fantasy could be prestige cinema and a global blockbuster at the same time. It reset what audiences expected from dragons-and-swords stories on screen, and it brought millions of new readers and players to Middle-earth. ## Overview Between December 2001 and December 2003, [Peter Jackson](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/peter-jackson/) released three films adapted from [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/j-r-r-tolkien/)'s [The Lord of the Rings](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-lord-of-the-rings/): *The Fellowship of the Ring*, *The Two Towers* and *The Return of the King*. They were shot back to back in New Zealand for a combined budget of about $281 million. Together they earned about $2.99 billion worldwide and won 17 Academy Awards from 30 nominations. Studios had treated [High / Epic Fantasy](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/high-fantasy/) as a risky genre that belonged in paperbacks and on game tables. Jackson made it into one of the defining [fantasy film](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/fantasy-film/) events of the century. ## Origins The screen rights had a tangled history. Tolkien sold the film rights in 1969, and they ended up with producer Saul Zaentz, who backed [Ralph Bakshi](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/ralph-bakshi/)'s half-finished animated [1978 version](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-lord-of-the-rings-1978-film/). That film is the one that first sent the teenage Jackson to the book. The full history is in [the Tolkien rights saga](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/tolkien-rights-saga/). In the mid-1990s Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh, known then for *Heavenly Creatures* and *The Frighteners*, pitched Tolkien to Harvey Weinstein at Miramax. Miramax acquired the rights from Zaentz and agreed to two films. When costs rose, Weinstein pushed to cut the story to a single film. Jackson refused, and Miramax put the project into turnaround on hard terms. Robert Shaye of New Line Cinema picked it up in 1998. He asked the obvious question: why make two films of a book published in three volumes? Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Jackson wrote the scripts, with Stephen Sinclair also credited on *The Two Towers*. Principal photography ran from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000, with seven units filming around Wellington, Queenstown and New Zealand's national parks. Pick-up shoots followed each year until 2003. Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop made the armor, weapons, prosthetics, creatures and "bigatures," the large-scale miniatures. Weta Digital created Andy Serkis's motion-captured Gollum and wrote MASSIVE, crowd software that let tens of thousands of digital orcs fight as individuals. Jackson hired the two artists whose paintings had defined Middle-earth for a generation of readers, [Alan Lee](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/alan-lee/) and [John Howe](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/john-howe/), to design the world. That gave the films the look of the illustrated books fans already knew. ## The story *The Fellowship of the Ring* follows the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who inherits the One Ring of the [The Dark Lord](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/dark-lord/) Sauron. A company of nine sets out from Rivendell to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom. The group includes the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli and four [hobbits](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/halfling/). After Gandalf falls to a [Balrog / Balor](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/balrog/) in Moria and Boromir dies at Amon Hen, the fellowship breaks apart. *The Two Towers* cuts between three strands: Frodo and Sam led toward Mordor by Gollum, Merry and Pippin among the [Ents](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/treant/) of Fangorn, and the siege of Helm's Deep, where [Uruk-hai](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/orc/) attack the people of Rohan. *The Return of the King* brings Aragorn to his throne through the battles of Minas Tirith and the Pelennor Fields while Frodo reaches the edge of Mount Doom. It ends with the long, quiet farewells at the Grey Havens. Jackson compressed and rearranged a great deal. Tom Bombadil is gone, the Scouring of the Shire is dropped, and Arwen's role is expanded. Each film later came out in an extended edition on home video about a year after its theatrical run, restoring close to two hours of material across the trilogy. ## Reception & impact All three films were critical and commercial hits. *The Return of the King* won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director. That tied the record held by *Ben-Hur* and *Titanic*, and it was the first fantasy film to win Best Picture. It also became only the second film, after *Titanic*, to pass $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Among its wins was Best Art Direction, shared by Grant Major, Dan Hennah and Alan Lee. The films also changed what came after them. Sales of Tolkien's books surged again, and New Zealand began marketing itself as Middle-earth. Hollywood started buying fantasy series in earnest. Tolkien games of every kind found bigger audiences, including Decipher's card game, Games Workshop's strategy battle game and later [The Lord of the Rings Online](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-lord-of-the-rings-online/). The money brought lawsuits too. In 2008 the Tolkien Trust sued New Line over its share of the profits, and the case was settled in 2009. ## Legacy Jackson went back to Middle-earth with a three-film adaptation of [The Hobbit](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-hobbit/) (2012–14). New Line was one of the partners in Amazon's 2017 television deal, which led to [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-rings-of-power/). That series took Howard Shore's themes and much of the trilogy's look as its visual starting point. The animated *The War of the Rohirrim* followed in 2024. Warner Bros. has scheduled *The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum*, directed by and starring Andy Serkis and produced by Jackson, Walsh and Boyens, for 17 December 2027. Two decades on, the trilogy is still the usual reference point for the whole genre on screen, as [Game of Thrones](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/game-of-thrones-tv/) and every later epic has found. ## Facts - All three films were shot together in one continuous principal photography schedule, from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000, using seven units across New Zealand. - *The Return of the King* won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture. That ties the record held by *Ben-Hur* and *Titanic*. - [Alan Lee](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/alan-lee/) and [John Howe](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/john-howe/), the two best-known illustrators of Tolkien, were hired as the films' conceptual designers. - Weta Digital built the MASSIVE software so that each soldier in the vast battle crowds could make its own decisions. - Miramax first developed the project. When Harvey Weinstein pushed for a single film, New Line's Robert Shaye took it on and asked for three. - Howard Shore's score uses a huge web of leitmotifs, often counted at 85 or more, and is one of the largest ever written for film. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)) - [TheOneRing.net — complete list of trilogy Oscar nominations and wins](https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2004/03/03/24877-complete-list-of-trilogy-oscar-nominations-wins-2/) - [Oscars.org — the 76th Academy Awards (2004)](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2004) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.