How to Watch ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Movies and Shows in Order
July 2, 2025
In the world of fantasy and sci-fi films, The Lord of the Rings franchise, based on the world-popular books of author J.R.R. Tolkien, looms large. All six of the live-action movies clearly flex Hollywood’s significant capabilities.
Like the books, The Lord of the Rings movies and series are all set in Tolkien’s fictional land of Middle-earth. Humans inhabit this land along with human variants like elves and hobbits — the latter of which are short-statured, peaceful beings with large hairy feet. The stories lean heavily on themes of courage, grit, friendship, and the opposing forces of good and evil.
Since the year 2000, two Lord of the Rings movie trilogies (directed by Peter Jackson), an animated film, and a television series have enthralled audiences — be they die-hard Tolkien fans, sci-fi and fantasy fans, or merely fans of great entertainment.
We’ve got a few handy lists of Lord of the Rings movies and shows in release date order — though you can stream them in whatever (new) order you’d like. We’ll also clue you into related productions to further satisfy anyone’s Lord of the Rings fix.
So take this guide, boil it, mash it, stick it in a stew… or better yet, just glean the wisdom within.
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How to Watch Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Movies in Release Date Order
Between 2001 and 2014, Peter Jackson directed six popular Lord of the Rings movies. If you’re new to The Lord of the Rings, these movies are a great place to start.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
How to Watch All Lord of the Rings Movies and Shows in Release Date Order
We’ve compiled all of the Lord of the Rings movies and shows to come out since 1977. Here’s how to watch them by release date:
- Animated movie: The Hobbit (1977)
- Animated movie: The Lord of the Rings (1978)
- Animated movie: The Return of the King (1980)
- Live-action movie: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- Live-action movie: The Two Towers (2002)
- Live-action movie: The Return of the King (2003)
- Live-action movie: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
- Live-action movie: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
- Live-action movie: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
- Live-action series: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 premiere)
- Animated movie: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Still want – wants? – more info on all things Lord of the Rings? Here’s a rundown of what you can expect from all the movies and shows.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy showcase some of the most ambitious, epic moviemaking in the sci-fi/fantasy genre to date.
Audiences and critics alike laud the entire trilogy for its ripping battle scenes, relatable and complex characters, and superb acting from some of the best in the business. Of course, the books on which the movies are based are famous for a reason, too.
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Fellowship of the Ring introduces Middle-earth’s residents, including the great wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). Sauron (Sala Baker), the ruler of the land of Mordor, is the trilogy’s chief antagonist.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo inherits a magical ring — the One Ring of Power — from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). That Sauron wants the ring is a vast understatement. The ring has the power to elevate him to ruler of all of Middle-earth.
Frodo makes it his mission to destroy the ring. This can only be accomplished by throwing it into the raging fires atop Mount Doom, a volcano located in Mordor. To undertake this mission, Frodo embarks on a harrowing trek to Mordor along with a fellowship of other hobbits, humans, elves, and dwarves.
Watch: The Fellowship of the Ring*
*The Fellowship of the Ring requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Two Towers (2002)
This film is the second in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis) — who has a history with the One Ring — joins Frodo and his gardener, Sam (Sean Astin), on the journey to Mordor to destroy the ring.
Two young hobbits, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), break free from a goblin who had captured them. Along with an Ent — a giant, sentient tree — named Treebeard, they scheme to attack a fortress of Sauron’s vassal, the evil wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), with Gandalf joining them.
Watch: The Two Towers*
*The Two Towers requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Return of the King (2003)
The Return of the King is the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) set their sights on defeating Sauron. Meanwhile, in order to destroy the One Ring, Gollum leads Frodo and his companion Sam to the Mount of Doom. But Gollum has something nefarious planned.
Watch: The Return of the King*
*The Return of the King requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Hobbit Trilogy
The Hobbit trilogy is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The two trilogies share the same director, Peter Jackson, and many of the same actors.
An Unexpected Journey (2012)
This first film in the Hobbit trilogy is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The movie largely occurs as a flashback, with the elderly hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) telling his nephew Frodo about events that occurred 60 years prior.
The Dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) has conquered the Lonely Mountain, driving out the resident dwarves and pillaging their wealth. The wizard Gandalf recruits Bilbo to join with a company of 13 dwarves led by head dwarf, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) to liberate the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. Meanwhile, the evil orc Azog the Defiler (Manu Bennett) pursues Bilbo and the company.
Watch: An Unexpected Journey*
*An Unexpected Journey requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Desolation of Smaug is the second and penultimate installment of the Hobbit trilogy.
Bilbo, Thorin, and the dwarves proceed on their mission to wrest Lonely Mountain away from Smaug. The company’s journey to Lonely Mountain is fraught with adversity, including giant spiders and imprisonment. Azog the Defiler’s son Bolg (Lawrence Makoare) and his band of orcs continue to hunt for the company.
Watch: The Desolation of Smaug*
*The Desolation of Smaug requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
In the final Hobbit movie, the trek of Bilbo, Thorin, and the dwarves comes to a conclusion in The Battle of the Five Armies. Different groups of humans, elves, orcs, and dwarves spar for the treasure that lies inside Lonely Mountain.
Watch: The Battle of the Five Armies*
*The Battle of the Five Armies requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
Other Lord of the Rings Movies and Shows
The Hobbit (1977)
This animated musical fantasy movie aired on NBC as a television special. Hollywood actor and director John Huston voiced the part of Gandalf the Grey. The story is a rather faithful adaptation of the original Tolkien book — though because it was a short, made-for-TV film, several parts of the book were left out.
Watch: The Hobbit*
*The Hobbit requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
This animated movie encompasses the stories from The Fellowship of the Ring and a portion of The Two Towers. It served as inspiration for the two more recent film trilogies directed by Peter Jackson.
The Return of the King (1980)
This animated musical fantasy movie aired as a special on ABC. It was made as the sequel to 1977’s The Hobbit. The movie centers around Frodo and Sam’s quest to reach Mount Doom. But the made-for-TV movie compresses a lot of story into a small span of time and leaves out several elements of the book.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 premiere)
This live-action series sends viewers back to the Second Age of Middle-earth — thousands of years before the action of The Hobbit. Filling in backstory to more canonical plotlines, the show first aired in 2022.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
A fantasy anime movie, The War of the Rohirrim is set in Middle-earth around 200 years prior to The Hobbit trilogy’s timeframe. The story centers around Helm Hammerhand, a famed Rohan King, and his daughter, Héra. A Dunlending named Wulf attacks Hammerhand, sparking a war. With the fierce Dunlendings fighting to utterly destroy Rohan, Héra bravely leads the troops in a grand resistance movement.
Watch: The War of the Rohirrim*
*The War of the Rohirrim requires the Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle or the Max Add-on. Access content from each service separately. Content, feature, and device compatibility vary by service. ©2024 Disney and its related entities. Max ©2024 Home Box Office, Inc.
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