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The Lord Of The Rings is a multi-part fantasy novel by legendary writer J.R.R Tolkien in 1954. The novel was a roaring success among the masses and was adapted to the big screen by Peter Jackson in 2001. All three movies are written, directed, and produced by Jackson and boast a dream cast, including Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, and Cate Blanchett, to name a few. The trilogy set a benchmark for visual effects and box office success breaking several records and sweeping through all major award functions.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was made on a budget of $281 Million which is relatively modest compared to the behemoth scale of the movies. All the films combined grossed a whopping $3 Billion worldwide, making them one of the highest-grossing trilogies ever.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings

 

The first installment of the LOTR trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings, was released in 2001 and is based on how a Hobbit and his companions save middle-earth by trying to destroy the One Ring. The movie opened to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and is still considered one of the most influential films ever made. Like all its successors, the movie sets a benchmark for visual effects, music, and production design, with particular praise for the action set pieces, which were way ahead of time back then.

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The movie was made on a minimalistic budget of $93 million, as reported by Statista, and it ended its box office run grossing $897.7 Million worldwide. It broke several box office records and became the 2nd highest-grossing movie of 2001 and the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. Peter Jackson’s ambitious project went right in every way possible, and the movie won and was nominated for several awards. The movie was nominated across 13 categories at the 74th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it won 5 awards for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

 

The sequel to the 2001 blockbuster, The Two Towers, was released in 2002 with Peter Jackson returning to write, direct and produce. The movie followed the footsteps of its predecessor and opened to widespread hysteria and critical acclaim. All the ensemble cast from the first movie reprised their roles and delivered powerful performances. The film continues the storyline from the first part and follows the journey of Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, and Sam, played by Sean Astin continue their journey to Mordor alongside Gollum. The movie was again considered a landmark in filmmaking and a revolution in the fantasy genre.

The movie set a benchmark for motion capture, with Andy Serkis playing the role of Gollum through the high-tech performance capture method. Despite all the CGI-heavy scenes, The Two Towers was made on a modest budget of $94 Million and grossed a staggering $947 million worldwide with an impressive domestic haul of $342 Million, as reported by IMDB.

The Two Towers was a monumental box office success. It became the highest-grossing movie of 2002, the 3rd highest-grossing movie of all time at its release, and the second highest-grossing movie in the LOTR trilogy. The film was also nominated for many awards in several categories, including six Academy Award nominations. It won three Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects and two BAFTA awards.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

 

The Return Of The King is the third and final installment of the LOTR trilogy released in 2003. The plot picks up from the last movie and follows the final journey of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum toward destroying The One Ring and the climactic war between good and evil for the future of middle-earth. Peter Jackson again took the reins of direction, writing, and production.

Just like its predecessors, the movie was immediately tagged as an Epic and received universal critical acclaim with special mention to the Visual Effects, Sound Design, and Costumes. The movie was again ranked as one of the most influential films ever made and received a cult following in the subsequent years.

The Return Of The King was a box office juggernaut grossing a massive $1.1 Billion Worldwide with a humongous domestic gross of $377 Million, as reported by The Numbers. With a production budget of just $94 Million, the movie became the highest-grossing movie of 2003 and the second-highest-grossing movie at that time.

The movie also becomes the Highest Grossing movie in the LOTR trilogy and the LOTR universe, with all the films in The Hobbit trilogy failing to replicate those numbers. The Return Of The King was also quite the bully in all significant award functions. It was nominated in 11 categories at the 76th Academy Awards, winning all 11 awards, including Best Picture, as per Fandom.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is undoubtedly one of the most successful and highest-grossing trilogies ever and Peter Jackson’s best work. Jackson and his crew set the course to make one of the most ambitious projects ever made and created something that would revolutionize the industry and be remembered for ages. Of all the three LOTR movies, the last and final movie, The Return Of The King, proved to be the most successful, with the highest box-office collections and awards.

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Source - Fandom, The Numbers, IMDB, Statista