The Lord of the Rings Movies In Order

The original Lord of the Rings trilogy starts with The Fellowship of the Ring and ends with The Return of the King. Many people consider the Lord of the Rings to be the best trilogy ever made. Originally based on a book, this unique movie series has gone on to become one of the most popular trilogies in the world. Bilbo’s earlier adventure is told in The Hobbit trilogy, released between 2012 and 2014. If you’re new to Middle-earth, I recommend watching those films before The Lord of the Rings.

The War of the Rohirrim (2024) explores an earlier part of Middle-earth’s history. This animated prequel takes place 183 years before the original trilogy and tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, the king whose name was given to Helm’s Deep.

If you’re wondering if you should watch them in order, the answer is a resounding: yes! Many trilogies can be watched in any order because their story lines are separate from each other. They may share common characters and ideas, but contain almost separate stories within each movie. The Lord of the Rings should definitely be watched in the proper order from beginning to last. Rather than being three separate stories, LOTR is a single story spaced out over three movies. You will not be able to follow what’s going on if you start in the incorrect order.

Additional to the advanced story line, LOTR paints extremely detailed pictures of each of the characters. We learn an abundance of information about individual characters and grow to either like or dislike them. As the storyline evolves, so do the characters. Each character has their own story within the movie as we grow to learn almost every detail of their lives. It’s important to watch the series in order so we can properly see how each character develops throughout the story as well as the relationships between characters.

LOTR	Trailers	The Hobbit	Trailers
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)		An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Two Towers (2002)		The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Return of the King (2003)		The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (December 17, 2027)
The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past (working title, in development)	Trailer not yet released

Is The Hobbit part of the series?

The Hobbit was not part of the initial Lord of the Rings saga. It doesn’t play a critical role in the understanding of the trilogy. However, if you’ve not watched any part of the trilogy, it’s recommended you start with it in order to have a better understanding. The Hobbit is in essence a prequel to the entire story. Technically this is where the journey began, hence the name “An Unexpected Journey”. If you choose to watch The Hobbit trilogy, you can either watch it before LOTR or after, it does not really matter. The series in itself is a great tale and can be watched by people who’ve not seen any of LOTR movies. Watching it will simply provide more background details on how Bilbo initially came upon finding the ring.

Middle-earth will return to live action with The Hunt for Gollum, scheduled for December 17, 2027. Andy Serkis is directing and returning as Gollum. The story takes place before The Fellowship of the Ring, filling in another part of the character’s history.