The Big Picture
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy re-released in theaters with impressive box office results but tapered off over time.
- The original trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and won a total of 17 Oscars, with Return of the King sweeping the awards.
- Director Peter Jackson returned to helm The Hobbit prequels, considered inferior, but is involved in upcoming Lord of the Rings projects.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy returned for a third and final round in theaters this weekend, concluding a special re-release run that began earlier in June. Each film in the ground-breaking trilogy was re-issued for one day at a time, three weekends in a row. While the box office response was quite impressive in the opening weekend, the results have understandably tapered off. The three movies made a combined total of just around $500,000 this weekend, having admittedly played in only 51 locations. The re-release, which comes courtesy of Fathom Events and Warner Bros., began on over 1,500 domestic screens.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the results. The first film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was re-issued in theaters on June 8, and returned for a second round on June 14, and then again for round three on June 22. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, returned to theaters on June 9, 15, and 23; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King played in theaters on June 10, 16, and 24. All three films were presented in special remastered and extended versions.
The Middle-Earth Movies Have Grossed a Combined Total of Nearly $6 Billion Worldwide
|
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy |
Global Box Office |
|---|---|
|
The Fellowship of the Ring |
$894 million |
|
The Two Towers |
$921 million |
|
The Return of the King |
$1.1 billion |
The Fellowship of the Ring made $2.4 million on its first day of re-release, around $632,000 on day two, and around $167,000 on day three. The Two Towers grossed $1.9 million on day one, around $508,000 on day two, and around $146,000 on day three. The Return of the King began its re-release run with $1.7 million, followed it up with around $513,000, and made $155,000 on its third and final day in theaters. Combined, the three films grossed a little over $8 million during this run. Based on the high fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings trilogy followed the adventures of Frodo Baggins, who goes on a quest to destroy the evil One Ring with the help of his friends, and an elite “fellowship” comprising iconic characters such as Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas.
Directed by Peter Jackson, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is widely considered to be one of the greatest film series of all time. Produced on a combined reported budget of nearly $300 million, the three films were released between 2001 and 2003. They grossed a combined total of nearly $3 billion worldwide and won a total of 17 Oscars from 30 nominations. The Return of the King famously swept the 76th Academy Awards, winning in each of the 11 categories it was nominated for. The Fellowship of the Ring’s total global haul stands at nearly $895 million; The Two Towers has generated $921 million, and The Return of the King has grossed $1.1 billion globally.
Jackson returned to helm a new trilogy of prequel movies based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but they’re generally considered to be significantly inferior to the original films, despite their considerable box office success. He will next return as an executive producer on the upcoming anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is set for a theatrical release later this year, and as a producer on Andy Serkis’ tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, due for release in 2026. Prime Video, on the other hand, is gearing up to release the second season of its big-budget streaming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which takes place before the events of the movies. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
