The Return of the King won 11 Academy Awards. At the 76th Academy Awards in 2004, it won every category in which it was nominated, creating one of the most decisive Oscar sweeps in history.
Its victories included Best Picture, Best Director for Peter Jackson, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song for “Into the West,” and Best Visual Effects. It also won awards for editing, sound mixing, makeup, costume design, and art direction.
The result made the film the first fantasy movie to win Best Picture. Its 11 wins tied it with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the highest Oscar total at the time. Unlike those films, however, The Return of the King won every award for which it was nominated.
A common mix-up is confusing nominations with wins: the film received 11 nominations and won all 11. The previous record for a complete sweep was 9 wins, achieved by Gigi and The Last Emperor.