The story, without spoilers
Sauron's gaze has turned to Gondor, the great kingdom of men, whose steward Denethor is sinking into grief and despair. Gandalf rides to its white city with Pippin, Aragorn is pushed to face the claim to the throne he has avoided all his life, and Rohan must decide whether to answer a call for help.
Far to the east, Frodo and Sam climb toward Mount Doom with Gollum as their guide, and the Ring grows heavier with every step. The finale cuts between battlefields the size of cities and two exhausted hobbits on a mountainside, and asks which of those struggles really decides the war.
Where the first two films spent much of their time on the road, this one gathers every thread towards a single deadline. The size of the battles grows, but the film keeps cutting back to two small figures on a mountain, and much of its emotional weight comes from that contrast between armies and two friends. It is also famous for taking its time to say goodbye once the main story is done.
Behind the scenes
Because the trilogy was filmed as one production, much of The Return of the King was shot years before it opened, then extended with pick-up filming and an enormous amount of post-production. The siege of Minas Tirith and the battle on the Pelennor Fields pushed Weta's crowd software further than either earlier film.
Howard Shore's score, which had built themes for the Shire, Rohan and Gondor across two films, pays them off here, and won the Oscar for Best Original Score. The song “Into the West”, sung by Annie Lennox, won Best Original Song. The world premiere was held at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 1 December 2003, a thank-you to the city where the films were made.
The finale premiered at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 1 December 2003, before opening in the United States on 17 December and in New Zealand the next day. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens wrote the script, and the cast added John Noble as Denethor, steward of Gondor, to the returning fellowship. Like its predecessors, it was filmed and edited in New Zealand, with Howard Shore again writing the music.
Why it still matters
The Return of the King is one of three films with eleven Oscars, alongside Ben-Hur and Titanic. It won every category it was nominated in, and it was the first fantasy film ever to win Best Picture.
Commercially it was just as decisive. It earned $1.149 billion, the highest-grossing film of 2003 and, for a time, the second-highest-grossing film ever behind Titanic. More lastingly, it showed that a franchise could end on purpose, with a long, emotional farewell to its characters instead of a hook for the next sequel.
Its $1.1 billion worldwide gross made it the top film of 2003, at the time the second-highest-grossing film ever, and the biggest release in New Line Cinema's history. With re-releases it has reached about $1.149 billion on a $94 million budget.
Winning all eleven of its nominations, it tied the record for most Oscar wins held by Ben-Hur and Titanic. Taken with the earlier chapters, the trilogy showed that a studio could commit to a long, faithful adaptation and be rewarded at the box office and at the Oscars alike.