The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The 2003 finale that swept all eleven of its Oscars.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the 2003 final film of Peter Jackson's trilogy, written by Jackson with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens from the third volume of Tolkien's novel.

Quick Facts

Director

Peter Jackson

Screenplay

Fran Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Peter Jackson

Based on

The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

Producer

Barrie M. Osborne
Fran Walsh
Peter Jackson

Cinematography

Andrew Lesnie

Editing

Jamie Selkirk

Music

Howard Shore

Production companies

WingNut Films; New Line Cinema

Facts from the source article.

Background

John Noble joins the ensemble, with Ian Holm and Sean Bean returning. Frodo and Sam follow Gollum towards Mount Doom, unaware that he means to betray them and take the Ring, while Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and their allies unite against Sauron's legions from Mordor. The film opens with the hobbit Déagol finding the Ring and his cousin Sméagol killing him for it, then shows Gandalf riding to Minas Tirith with Pippin to warn the steward Denethor after Pippin looks into Saruman's palantír.

Financed by New Line Cinema and made in New Zealand with its predecessors, it premiered at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 1 December 2003 and opened in the United States on 17 December. Praised as a satisfying close to the trilogy, it grossed $1.1 billion, the most of any 2003 film, the second-highest of all time during its run, and the biggest ever for both Jackson and New Line.

At the 76th Academy Awards it won all eleven of its nominations, including Best Picture, the first fantasy film to do so, equalling the record of Ben-Hur and Titanic. With it the trilogy became the second film series after the original Star Wars films to win Best Visual Effects for every entry.