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Poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003)
Released
2003 · FILM

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Frodo, a young hobbit burdened with the One Ring, embarks on a perilous journey to Mount Doom to destroy it, pursued by the relentless forces of Sauron and tormented by the Ring’s growing hold on his soul.

“The eye of the enemy is moving.”

Directed by
Peter Jackson, Peter Jackson Nm0001392
Written by
J R R Tolkien, Fran Walsh
Rated
MPA · PG-13
Runtime
201 min
AdventureFantasyAction

Synopsis

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.​

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 334+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Annie CollinsShot by Andrew LesnieScored by Howard ShoreDesigned by Grant Major

Box Office

2003 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 12× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$1.12B

Budget$94.0M
Worldwide gross$1.12B
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $377.0M — 34% of worldwide · International: $741.9M (66%)

Opening weekend: $51.5M — 14% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $51.5M — 14% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 3,703 theaters

Compare across the franchise →

Re-release box office

20261,655 theaters
$7.8M($7.8M today)
20241,172 theaters
$2.5M($2.6M today)
20231,107 theaters
$1.2M($1.3M today)
Total re-release
$11.5M

Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation

Full synopsis

Versions & cuts

  • DVD Widescreen Edition· 192 min
  • Special DVD Extended Edition· 254 min
  • Blu-Ray Extended Edition· 263 min

Also known as

  • Der Herr der Ringe 3 - Die Rückkehr des Königsde
  • Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königsde
  • Die Rückkehr des Königsde
  • El señor de los anillos: el retorno del reyes
  • Le Seigneur des anneaux : Le Retour du roifr
  • Il Signore degli Anelli - Il ritorno del reit
  • (Alternative Title)Kryezoti i Unazave: Kthimi i Mbretit
Release dates around the world4 countries · show
  • New ZealandDec 1, 2003
  • United StatesDec 3, 2003
  • GermanyDec 10, 2003
  • United KingdomDec 11, 2003

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More in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series

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