Peter Jackson directed the live-action Lord of the Rings film trilogy released from 2001 to 2003. The three films are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, adapting J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel into a large-scale cinematic story.
Jackson, a filmmaker from New Zealand, developed the trilogy with screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Principal photography took place concurrently in New Zealand over 438 days, an unusually ambitious production that allowed the films to maintain consistent performances, locations, costumes, and visual design.
The trilogy was released by New Line Cinema, with the first film arriving in 2001 and the final installment in 2003. A common mix-up is confusing Jackson's trilogy with Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation or with The Hobbit film trilogy, which Jackson also directed later. Jackson's Lord of the Rings films became major critical and commercial successes, with The Return of the King winning all 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated.