The Lord of the Rings

Here it is. The big boy. The grandfather of all modern fantasy. The film trilogy that changed cinema in a way that is only rivaled by Star Wars. The Lord of the Rings is a juggernaut of filmmaking and cultural impact. Frodo Baggins was living a quiet life in The Shire until the fate of all of Middle Earth is placed in the palm of his hand. Together with the Fellowship of the Ring Frodo must journey through harsh lands and epic battles to defeat Sauron once and for all. There is no film series quite like it, with some of the most iconic film characters ever shown on the silver screen. It is a miracle that the book series everyone claimed was impossible to film exists this perfectly. Something like The Lord of the Rings will never happen again, which makes it even more special.

Production 

Directed by Peter Jackson

Produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Tim Sanders

Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Stephen Sinclair

Based on The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Sean Bean

Music by Howard Shore

Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie

Edited by John Gilbert, Michael Horton, Jamie Selkirk

Production companies: New Line Cinema, WingNut Films

Distribution & Stats

Distributed by New Line Cinema

Release date: 2001–2003

Running time of total (3 films): 558 minutes (theatrical,) 686 minutes (extended)

Country: New Zealand, United States

Language: English

Budget of total 3 films: $281 million

Box office of total 3 films: $3 billion