Poster © New Line Cinema. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAdventure, Drama & Fantasy
RatedPG-13
Runtime3 hr 21 mins
ReleasedDecember 17, 2003
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorPeter Jackson
StarringElijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
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| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's Details | |
| Genre | Adventure, Drama & Fantasy |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 12/01/2003 (Embassy Theatre); 12/17/2003 (United States); 12/18/2003 (New Zealand) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 3 hr 21 mins |
| Budget | $94M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Country | New Zealand, Germany, United States |
| Language | English |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's Interests | |
| General | Lighting the beacons, white trees, oliphaunts, palantíri, second breakfast and one very cursed ring. |
| Music | Howard Shore. Annie Lennox sings Into the West over the credits. |
| Movies | The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002). Do the homework first. |
| Television | The Rings of Power. Back to Middle-earth, a few thousand years early. |
| Heroes | Samwise Gamgee. Gardener, cook, bodyguard, absolute unit of loyalty. |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's Crew | |
| Director | Peter Jackson |
| Writers | Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson |
| Producers | Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson |
| Cinematography | Andrew Lesnie |
| Music | Howard Shore |
| Edited By | Jamie Selkirk |
| Production | WingNut Films, New Line Cinema |
| Distributed By | New Line Cinema |
Go ahead and count the endings in Return of the King. Everybody does. The movie fades out, fades back in, and waves goodbye from every window of the house like a relative who won’t get in the car. 201 minutes, and the last stretch is a parade of goodbyes. Fair complaint. Now the rest. The charge of the Rohirrim is the biggest, loudest, most hair-raising moment in fantasy, and Peter Jackson cuts it against a slow, grinding walk up a volcano that’s just as tense. Sean Astin gives Sam the heart of the whole trilogy. Andy Serkis makes Gollum pitiful and nasty in the same breath, and John Noble’s Denethor eats cherry tomatoes like a cartoon villain while Pippin sings. It made $1.14 billion worldwide, got an A+ CinemaScore, and 2.2 million IMDb ratings average a 9.0. A 9.3 because it pays off the entire trilogy without flinching, and the endings are earned, even if there are too many. $14.35 says you count the fake endings out loud and still get choked up at every single one.
What works: The charge of the Rohirrim, Sam’s loyalty, and a finale that ties off every thread the trilogy started.
What doesn’t: The run of endings after the climax stacks fade-out on fade-out and tests even a superfan’s patience.
Who it’s for: People who’ve seen the first two and are ready to give up an entire evening and their emotional defenses.
Spoilers
Frodo can’t throw the Ring in at the last second, but Gollum grabs it and falls into the fire, and the Ring is destroyed. Aragorn is crowned king, and later Frodo sails away from Middle-earth with Bilbo and Gandalf, leaving Sam to go home to his family.
The Fellowship is scattered and Sauron is done waiting. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) keep grinding toward Mordor with the Ring, Gollum (Andy Serkis) leading the way and muttering the whole time. Gandalf (Ian McKellen) gallops to the white city of Minas Tirith with Pippin (Billy Boyd), where the steward Denethor (John Noble) is not exactly rolling out the welcome mat. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) has to figure out whether he is ready to be the king everyone keeps hinting about. Peter Jackson closes the trilogy at full volume. Two hundred one minutes, and somehow you still want the extended cut.
Anyone with strong calves and a stronger best friend. Mordor is a long walk.
| Elijah Wood | Frodo Baggins |
| Viggo Mortensen | Aragorn |
| Sean Astin | Samwise Gamgee |
| Andy Serkis | Sméagol / Gollum |
| Ian McKellen | Gandalf the White |
| John Rhys-Davies | Gimli |
| Orlando Bloom | Legolas |
| Billy Boyd | Peregrin Took |
| Dominic Monaghan | Meriadoc Brandybuck |
| Bernard Hill | Théoden |
| Miranda Otto | Éowyn |
| David Wenham | Faramir |
| Karl Urban | Éomer |
| Hugo Weaving | Elrond |
| Liv Tyler | Arwen |
| Cate Blanchett | Galadriel |
| John Noble | Denethor |
| Ian Holm | Bilbo Baggins |
| Sean Bean | Boromir |
| Marton Csokas | Celeborn the Wise |
| Lawrence Makoare | the Witch-king of Angmar |
| Thomas Robins | Déagol |
| Christopher Lee | Saruman the White |
| Brad Dourif | Gríma Wormtongue |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 9.0 / 10 (2,201,328 votes) → 9.0 / 10 (2,201,636 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $1.14B; Domestic box office $387M; Opening weekend $72.6M; Profit / loss (est.) +$428M; Rotten Tomatoes 94%; CinemaScore A+; box office chart updated; RT 94% (304 reviews); Metacritic 94 / 100; CinemaScore A+; IMDb users 9.0 / 10 (2,201,328 votes); movie.guru score 9.6.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.