Who directed the film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

Peter Jackson directed the film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

The three films were The Fellowship of the Ring, released in 2001, The Two Towers, released in 2002, and The Return of the King, released in 2003. Jackson directed the trilogy and co-wrote the screenplays with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, with Stephen Sinclair also credited on The Two Towers.

The films were produced and filmed largely in New Zealand. They adapted Tolkien’s novel into a large-scale cinematic narrative, combining material from the three volumes while making changes to structure, characterization and pacing.

Peter Jackson also directed The Hobbit film trilogy, released from 2012 to 2014. That later series adapted Tolkien’s earlier novel, but it expanded the relatively short book into three feature films and incorporated additional material from Tolkien’s wider writings. The two trilogies are therefore related adaptations, not one continuous six-part film series based on a single book.