In celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be returning to theaters.  Peter Jackson’s acclaimed trilogy is being re-released through Fathom Entertainment. Fathom is said to be adding more times, dates, and locations to keep up with demand, but the initial sentiment was that each film was getting its own release date.  The Fellowship of the Ring is set to open on January 16, The Two Towers is set for January 17, and The Return of the King January 18.  Fathom estimates that 407,000 tickets are currently sold, leading to the $5 million figure and trumping the 2024 re-release of the films by a staggering 65% so far.  In 2024, Variety reports that at the same point in the cycle, only 247,000 had been sold before the films re-released in theaters, and ultimately brought in $8.2 million over a full weekend.  

Not only can fans expect a lengthy message from Peter Jackson in front of each film for this occasion, but the extended edition for each film dramatically increases the overall runtimes.  The original theatrical cuts of the trilogy clocked in at around 9 hours combined, with the extended editions that are hitting theaters this weekend combining for a staggering 11 hours and 30 minutes.  CEO of Fathom Entertainment Ray Nutt hyped up the exclusivity and importance of the Peter Jackson segments, also highlighting that the extended editions re-releasing is bound to be a high point for the franchise and its fans.  

The original theatrical adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels grossed slightly below $3 billion, also bringing New Line Cinema 17 Academy Awards.  Peter Jackson wasn’t done there, his Hobbit trilogy also arrived at a similar figure in the $3 billion range.  Pre-sale numbers show fans are still hungry to return to Middle-earth, so be sure to follow along with us as we continue to cover the Lord of the Rings extended edition re-release.