✎ Editor’s notes on 10 facts

FILM · 2003 · NEW ZEALAND

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Directed by: Peter Jackson
Runtime: 201 min
Studio: New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company

10 archived facts 2 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Oct 2026

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures…

10 Interesting Facts About The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Name: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Released: 2003

Interesting Facts (4)

#001
The entire running time for The Lord of the Rings trilogy is approximately twelve hours from start to finish.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
I haven't watched any of the LOTR film series, but the trilogy being twelve hours from start to finish isn't a negative thing. In films, long runtimes are sometimes worthy of applause. Because there's meaning in them. That doesn't simply mean every long film is good. For example, the first two Godfather films are long too, but they're respectively the two best films in cinema. Adapting a work like LOTR, whose book comes in volumes, to cinema isn't easy. If the trilogy's director stayed the same throughout, I congratulate him. Because even though I haven't watched LOTR, I've read and heard plenty about its quality. It's just that apart from Game of Thrones as a series, I don't like fantasy series and films, which is why I haven't watched it.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Peter Jackson and Dominic Monaghan on setImage: IMDb
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#002
Elijah Wood and John Noble voiced Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in the Batman: Arkham franchise.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
That's a great bit of trivia. Because I really love Batman: Arkham, especially Batman: Arkham City. The fact that they worked together on this project, and also worked together on Batman: Arkham, makes this a nice bit of trivia among the interesting facts for me.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Denethor and Pippin in the throne roomImage: IMDb
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#003
The beacon system seen in this film is based on a real system used in the Byzantine Empire during the Arab-Byzantine wars. If an Arabic attack came on that border, the beacon fires could be spotted faster than a rider could arrive, and rulers in Constantinople (which, like Minas Tirith, had layers of walls) would learn of the attack within an hour instead of days. At around the same time (9th century), the Chinese used a similar system, but their bonfires were covered with wolf dung, which rose to a very high altitude without dissipating.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
The wars between the Arabs and the Byzantines before the Turks arrived. After the Turks arrived, Byzantium slowly fades and finally ends. Take the Turks out of the historical stage and at least half of history gets erased.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): White horse rider approaching Minas TirithImage: IMDb
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#004
Andy Serkis appeared in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) as Supreme Leader Snoke. George Lucas cited The Lord of the Rings as a major influence on Star Wars.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
That achievement is J.R.R Tolkien's achievement. The fact that a film with worldwide recognition like Star Wars bears the influence of LOTR is directly about LOTR's influence on everything around it.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Andy Serkis in a boatImage: IMDb
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Production Story (6)

#005
The deformed Orc leader Gothmog is only mentioned once in the original novel of The Lord of the Rings, identified only by name, and as the Lieutenant of Morgul. His race is not given. It was the filmmakers' choice to make him an Orc. The name Gothmog is shared with the leader of the Balrogs in Morgoth's army in "The Silmarillion," J.R.R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, several millennia before the events in The Lord of the Rings.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Speaking of the Balrog, there are balrogs in the game Knight Online too. They're powerful, and if you attack one alone, you die. Just thought I'd throw that in.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Helmeted rider shoutingImage: IMDb
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#006
The end-credit portraits of each of the lead actors and actresses appearing alongside their name was the suggestion of Sir Ian McKellen. The sketches were created by production designer Alan Lee from production stills, although what is seen on the movie is actually a slight morph between the sketch and the original photograph.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
A nice piece of work, on a scale that's reasonable. The methods used to introduce the actors draw the audience deeper into the work. For example, the Game of Thrones opening credits had castles rising up too. And this fits directly with the themes the series deals with, like "kingdom, throne, region."
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Gandalf's credits portraitImage: IMDb
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#007
Facts and numbers about the trilogy: Over six million feet of film was shot during production; 48,000 swords, axes, shields, and make-up prosthetics; 20,602 background actors cast; 19,000 costumes made by the wardrobe department; 10,000 crowd participants at a New Zealand cricket game who made orc army grunts; 2,400 behind-the-scenes crew members at the height of production; 1,600 pairs of prosthetic Hobbit feet created; 250 horses used in one scene; 180 computer visual effects artists employed; one hundred fourteen total speaking roles; one hundred real locations in New Zealand used for backdrops; fifty tailors, cobblers, designers, and others in the wardrobe department; thirty actors and actresses trained to speak fictional dialects and languages; seven total years of development for all three movies.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
They prepared properly for a book like this. A team effort this extensive is rarely seen.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Viggo Mortensen and the ranks of the mounted armyImage: IMDb
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#008
The three movies were filmed simultaneously.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Were all three films shot at the same time? Peter Jackson prepared very well and put together a very good cast and directed the team very well. The three films already got the praise they deserved, and even if not as much as the book, they made a huge splash. In fact, would it even be wrong to call it a trilogy I could maybe say is better than the book? Very few films or series are better than their books. But even so, it seems to me the book is ahead of the films.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Peter Jackson with Bernard Hill on setImage: IMDb
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#009
The original cut was 4 and a 1/4 hours and took a year to cut it to 3 hours 12.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
This is tremendous technique, achievement, dedication. Every scene was worked on incredibly, maybe some were even reshot. Editing is harder than even shooting the film. Though the team did very layered work on this film, they say 20 thousand swords were used, but the editing part is so hard and confusing that it might even be harder than shooting the film. I say this as a director who makes short films.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen on setImage: IMDb
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#010
According to a magazine article, Sir Peter Jackson hated the Army of the Dead, thinking it was too unbelievable. He kept it in the script because he did not wish to disappoint diehard fans of the book.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Peter Jackson puts a character in here. He added something he hated to the script just so he wouldn't disappoint the book's fans. That's the character. I've watched a few behind-the-scenes things this guy did. He knows the LOTR world, that's clear. Otherwise the trilogy wouldn't be this good.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen on setImage: IMDb
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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work