The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2026 "The eye of the enemy is moving."

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

9 | 3h21m | PG-13 | en | Adventure

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.

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9 | 3h21m | PG-13 | en | More Info

Released: January. 18,2026 | Released Producted By: WingNut Films , New Line Cinema Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.lordoftherings.net

info

Genre

Adventure , Fantasy , Action

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2026) is now streaming with subscription on HBO Max

Cast

Elijah Wood , Ian McKellen , Viggo Mortensen , Sean Astin , Andy Serkis , Dominic Monaghan

Director

Joe Bleakley

Producted By

WingNut Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Videos and Images

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Top Credited Cast
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Crew

Elijah Wood

as Frodo

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Ready or Not 2: Here I Come E.B. White's Charlotte's Web The Toxic Avenger Unrated The Monkey Back to the Future Part II Bookworm Untitled Aardman Animations/Over The Garden Wall Special

Ian McKellen

as Gandalf

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Christophers Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness Dragged Through Time Schadenfreude The Hobbit: There and Back Again A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved

Viggo Mortensen

as Aragorn

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Dead Don't Hurt Eureka Thirteen Lives Crimes of the Future Crimes of the Future - Behind the Scenes Featurette Falling Green Book

Sean Astin

as Sam

Chili Finger Matter of Time The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Love Hurts Little Lorraine Pet Investigators The Goonies Guns of Redemption

Andy Serkis

as Gollum / Smeagol

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Young Washington The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Animal Farm The Hobbit: There and Back Again Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Venom: The Last Dance Hitpig! After the Dark Times

Dominic Monaghan

as Merry

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Long Shadows Billy & Dom Eat the World The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Angry Birds Mystery Island LOST: Circle Rajah Moonhaven

Joe Bleakley

Art Direction

Rob Outterside

Art Direction

Mark Robins

Art Direction

Jules Cook

Assistant Art Director

Alan Lee

Conceptual Design

John Howe

Conceptual Design

Grant Major

Production Design

Alan Lee

Set Decoration

Dan Hennah

Set Decoration

Andrew Lesnie

Director of Photography

Ngila Dickson

Costume Design

Richard Taylor

Costume Design

Peter Owen

Makeup & Hair

Kerryn Flewell-Smith

Makeup Artist

Davina Lamont

Makeup Artist

Ivana Primorac

Makeup Artist

Steve Ingram

Special Effects Coordinator

George Marshall Ruge

Stunt Coordinator

Kirk Maxwell

Stunt Coordinator

Augie Davis

Stunt Coordinator

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Audience Reviews

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RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

BrevinBeltrock Lord of the rings? pfffff more like.... bored of the rings am I right fellas?

shaftales Best casting for make this movie best directing in 12 hour movie best editing of all time best soundtrack of movies i think it deserve oscar awards best scenes and sets of all time

boys-goldennotebook I only give this movie an eight, just because it was entertaining with decent action sequences, but apart from that being rated an 8.9 is highly overrated and its a longing 3 hours long which makes the movie even vaguer at stake. This movie is so boring and there are really unnecessary scenes in this picture. The whole sequence with Aragorn and the princess is stupid and it gives unnecessary story lines to the movie. I rank Frodo as a weakling with complete over drama on Elijah woods part and basically stating that he flopped like a deer when "the eye" almost saw him. Peter Jackson has recreated the series into a charming, entertaing, bunch of movies but they don't deserve all the recognition and the 17 oscars, I mean come on, thats ludicrous its like India winning the World Cup.

Pjtaylor-96-138044 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)' is the best of the three mainly because it is, for the most part, so pacy and persistently forward-moving. It's constantly engaging and does a good job of wrapping up its story in a suitably epic and entertaining way. It does suffer from multiple endings, though. These could each have done the job (except for the one that's particularly silly) but none of them wrap up the picture especially well in conjunction with one another. There's also an occasional feeling that there's less plot this time around, with more emphasis placed upon phenomenally epic battles - some of the largest in scale I've ever seen. However, this one is more of an ensemble piece than the others and it intercuts between its main stories just often enough that you always care about each of its never-more-interesting dangling threads. Although the emphasis of this picture does seem slightly less on our protagonist's journey to rid Middle Earth of the one ring than you'd perhaps expect, it strikes a balance between all of its characters - especially those who were sidelined before - and makes sure that they all have something important to do and that you care about them while they are doing it. Because of this, it's the most character-focused in the trilogy, even if some of the 'main' players are given slightly less to do. Thankfully, it also means that Sam, who is clearly the most heroic of the hobbits, finally has his day as a hero (even if most other characters don't acknowledge it) and it is incredibly satisfying. 8/10