The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Timing: 3:21 (201 min)

8.495/10
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8.685/10
648799

9/10
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All about film

Video 22

Photo 354

Actors and characters

Release date

2003-12-17

Country

New Zealand, United States

Production

New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company

Genre

Adventure, Fantasy, Action

Budget

$94 000 000

Revenue

$1 156 194 180

Website

http://www.lordoftherings.net

Director

Peter Jackson

Actors

Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Noble, David Wenham, Miranda Otto
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Mark Ordesky, Michael Lynne, Robert Shaye

Operator

Andrew Lesnie

Composer

Howard Shore

Artist

Jules Cook, Jacqui Allen

Audition

Victoria Burrows, John Hubbard, Liz Mullane

Editing

Jamie Selkirk
All team (160)

• The film is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Lord of the Rings" (1954-1955).
• During the scriptwriting process for the trilogy, Peter Jackson originally envisioned 26-year-old Stuart Townsend to play the role of Aragorn. After 6 weeks of preparation, a decision was made to find an older actor. As is well known, Viggo Mortensen, aged 41, was cast.
• The battle scenes, in which the creators claim approximately 200,000 virtual characters participated, required a huge amount of processing time. Weta Digital, responsible for the effects, was even forced to build a new room for equipment, as a colossal amount of hardware was needed to process the images.
• The first scene of the film, explaining the origin of Gollum, was originally intended to be included in the second film – “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002).
• The number of computer special effects increased from installment to installment. If 560 were used in the first part, then 800 in the second, and as many as 1500 in the final one.
• All three parts of the trilogy were filmed simultaneously.
• Viggo Mortensen became so immersed in his role that he sometimes even outside of filming calmly responded to the name Aragorn.
• Facts and figures: 900 km of film were used during the entire filming process; 48,000 of all kinds of swords, axes and other armor were used; 20,600 actors were involved in various mass scenes; 2,400 personnel (makeup, editing, special effects, sound, etc.); 250 horses were used in one of the scenes; 114 character roles (characters who say at least a couple of lines in the film); 30 actors learned nonexistent languages and dialects; it took the creators 7 years to complete the entire trilogy.
• A new international record for box office collections was set – the film grossed a colossal $250 million during its opening weekend.
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy received the most Academy Award nominations (30), surpassing such titans as The Godfather (28) and Star Wars (21).
• For the first time, an Oscar for Best Picture went to a fantasy film. And for the first time, a fantasy film director was recognized as the best among his peers.
• One of the longest films to win an Academy Award (201 minutes). However, the film Gone with the Wind (1939) lasted as long as 238 minutes.
• For the second time in the history of cinema, the main prize of the Academy Awards has been given to a sequel (previously, "The Godfather Part II" (1974) received the award). The record previously set by "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Titanic" (1997) – 11 Oscar awards – has been repeated.
• All 11 nominations for the film resulted in awards. This is an absolute record. Previously, "The Last Emperor" (1987) and "The Seventh Seal" (1958) had won 9 out of 9 nominations.
• In February 2004, the film became the second in the history of cinema to gross over a billion dollars (the pioneer was "Titanic" (1997)).
• There are two editing versions: theatrical release version – shortened to meet the requirements of US distribution companies, shown in cinemas and on television; special extended edition (SEE) – 50 minutes longer than the theatrical version.
• The film became the most-watched film of 2017 on the streaming platform Netflix. It topped the charts thanks to a Canadian resident who watched the blockbuster 361 times during her pregnancy. Suria-Anne Jones watched the director's cut of the film, which lasts 4 hours and 23 minutes.
• The film is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955).
• The first scene of the film, which explains the origin of Gollum, was originally intended to be included in the second film – “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002).