The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson, based on the third volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The film is the third instalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and was produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Jackson, Walsh and Sanders, and written by Walsh, Boyens and Jackson. The film features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, and Ian Holm.
Set in Middle-earth, the story focuses on the continuing quest of the hobbit Frodo Baggins and his Fellowship of the Ring to destroy the One Ring. Aragorn, the Elf archer Legolas, and Gimli the Dwarf encounter the besieged Rohan kingdom, whose once great King Théoden has fallen under Saruman's deadly spell.
The Return of the King was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, who considered it to be a landmark in filmmaking and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It became a major box office success, earning over $1.142 billion worldwide, and received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning all 11, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.
The film was followed by a prequel, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), which was also critically and commercially successful. The Lord of the Rings film series is one of the highest-grossing film series of all time.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the only fantasy film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and is tied for largest number of Academy Awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).
Published on February 27, 2024