The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King backdrop

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King movie poster

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingFollow

2003 • PG-13 • 3h 21m • Adventure, Drama, Fantasy • New Line Cinema

The eye of the enemy is moving.

🍅 94% 86%

94

4.55

9.0

CS A+

Box office summary

Opening weekend

$72.60M

3-day opening

Domestic total

$383.38M

Final

Worldwide total

$1.13B

$742.80M international

Domestic legs5.28x

Budget$94.0M

2003 rank#1

Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Jackson filmography

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson Director

Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood Starring

Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen Starring

Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Mortensen Starring

Sean Astin

Sean Astin Starring

Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis Starring

ScreenplayPeter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens StudioNew Line Cinema SeriesThe Lord of the Rings

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal

1 Dec 19-21 1 $72.6M — 3,703 $19,613 $124.1M

2 Dec 26-28 1 $50.6M −30.3% 3,703 $13,664 $222.3M

3 Jan 2-4 1 $28.2M −44.3% 3,703 $7,610 $290.4M

4 Jan 9-11 1 $14.2M −49.6% 3,532 $4,022 $312.3M

5 Jan 16-18 3 $10.2M −28.1% 3,003 $3,403 $326.8M

6 Jan 23-25 5 $6.8M −33.6% 2,558 $2,653 $337.8M

7 Jan 30-Feb 1 4 $5.3M −21.7% 2,256 $2,354 $345.3M

8 Feb 6-8 7 $4.3M −19.2% 1,878 $2,286 $351.1M

9 Feb 13-15 8 $4.2M −2.5% 1,663 $2,517 $356.5M

10 Feb 20-22 10 $2.9M −31.9% 1,407 $2,025 $361.1M

11 Feb 27-29 11 $2.2M −23.7% 1,112 $1,955 $364.1M

12 Mar 5-7 7 $3.0M +39.7% 1,903 $1,596 $368.2M

13 Mar 12-14 9 $2.0M −33.5% 1,307 $1,546 $371.1M

14 Mar 19-21 11 $1.4M −33.2% 1,021 $1,322 $373.4M

15 Mar 26-28 15 $705.8K −47.7% 661 $1,067 $374.6M

16 Apr 2-4 19 $373.9K −47.0% 348 $1,074 $375.2M

17 Apr 9-11 21 $289.2K −22.6% 338 $855 $375.7M

18 Apr 16-18 28 $227.3K −21.4% 295 $770 $376.1M

19 Apr 23-25 27 $194.7K −14.3% 268 $726 $376.3M

20 Apr 30-May 2 35 $154.6K −20.6% 221 $699 $376.6M

21 May 7-9 38 $103.7K −32.9% 190 $545 $376.7M

22 May 14-16 40 $92.6K −10.7% 153 $605 $376.9M

23 May 21-23 44 $72.2K −22.0% 135 $534 $377.0M

DateRankGrossDailyWeeklyTotalTheatersAvgDay

Wed Dec 17 #1 $34.5M — $34.5M 3,703 $9,303 1

Thu Dec 18 #1 $17.0M −51% $51.5M 3,703 $4,596 2

Fri Dec 19 #1 $21.8M +28% $73.3M 3,703 $5,890 3

Sat Dec 20 #1 $27.5M +26% $100.8M 3,703 $7,424 4

Sun Dec 21 #1 $23.3M −15% $124.1M 3,703 $6,299 5

Mon Dec 22 #1 $13.6M −42% $137.7M 3,703 $3,662 6

Tue Dec 23 #1 $12.5M −8% $150.1M 3,703 $3,369 7

Wed Dec 24 #1 $7.5M −40% −78% $157.7M 3,703 $2,037 8

Thu Dec 25 #1 $14.0M +85% −18% $171.7M 3,703 $3,776 9

Fri Dec 26 #1 $19.2M +37% −12% $190.8M 3,703 $5,172 10

Sat Dec 27 #1 $17.2M −10% −37% $208.1M 3,703 $4,658 11

Sun Dec 28 #1 $14.2M −18% −39% $222.3M 3,703 $3,833 12

Mon Dec 29 #1 $10.1M −29% −26% $232.3M 3,703 $2,714 13

Tue Dec 30 #1 $9.6M −4% −23% $241.9M 3,703 $2,596 14

Wed Dec 31 #1 $7.5M −22% n/c $249.4M 3,703 $2,027 15

Thu Jan 1 #1 $11.9M +59% −15% $261.4M 3,703 $3,227 16

Fri Jan 2 #1 $10.6M −11% −45% $272.9M 3,703 $2,863 17

Sat Jan 3 #1 $10.6M n/c −39% $283.4M 3,703 $2,852 18

Sun Jan 4 #1 $7.0M −34% −51% $290.5M 3,703 $1,894 19

Mon Jan 5 #1 $2.4M −66% −76% $292.8M 3,703 $643 20

Tue Jan 6 #1 $2.2M −8% −77% $295.0M 3,703 $588 21

Wed Jan 7 #1 $1.9M −12% −74% $296.9M 3,703 $518 22

Thu Jan 8 #1 $1.7M −14% −86% $298.2M 3,703 $446 23

Fri Jan 9 #2 $3.6M +118% −66% $301.7M 3,532 $1,019 24

Sat Jan 10 #1 $6.4M +79% −39% $308.3M 3,532 $1,823 25

Sun Jan 11 #1 $4.1M −36% −42% $312.4M 3,532 $1,158 26

Mon Jan 12 #1 $1.2M −71% −51% $313.5M 3,532 $333 27

Tue Jan 13 #1 $1.2M +3% −44% $314.8M 3,532 $344 28

Wed Jan 14 #1 $1.1M −13% −45% $315.8M 3,532 $299 29

Thu Jan 15 #1 $1.0M −2% −37% $316.6M 3,532 $293 30

Fri Jan 16 #4 $2.4M +129% −34% $319.0M 3,003 $791 31

Sat Jan 17 #2 $4.6M +94% −28% $323.6M 3,003 $1,536 32

Sun Jan 18 #2 $3.2M −30% −21% $326.9M 3,003 $1,075 33

Mon Jan 19 #3 $2.2M −31% +89% $329.1M 3,003 $742 34

Tue Jan 20 #2 $762.0K −66% −37% $329.8M 3,003 $253 35

Wed Jan 21 #2 $599.0K −21% −43% $330.4M 3,003 $199 36

Thu Jan 22 #3 $642.0K +7% −38% $331.1M 3,003 $213 37

Fri Jan 23 #6 $1.5M +134% −37% $332.5M 2,558 $586 38

Sat Jan 24 #6 $3.2M +111% −32% $335.7M 2,558 $1,234 39

Sun Jan 25 #3 $2.1M −33% −34% $337.9M 2,558 $827 40

Mon Jan 26 #3 $536.0K −75% −76% $338.4M 2,558 $209 41

Tue Jan 27 #3 $556.0K +4% −27% $339.0M 2,558 $217 42

Wed Jan 28 #3 $590.0K +6% −2% $339.5M 2,558 $230 43

Thu Jan 29 #3 $552.0K −6% −14% $340.1M 2,558 $215 44

Fri Jan 30 #7 $1.4M +154% −7% $341.4M 2,256 $620 45

Sat Jan 31 #4 $2.7M +96% −13% $344.2M 2,256 $1,214 46

Sun Feb 1 #4 $1.2M −56% −43% $345.4M 2,256 $531 47

Mon Feb 2 #4 $403.0K −66% −25% $345.8M 2,256 $178 48

Tue Feb 3 #4 $416.0K +3% −25% $346.2M 2,256 $184 49

Wed Feb 4 #4 $381.0K −8% −35% $346.6M 2,256 $168 50

Thu Feb 5 #4 $352.0K −8% −36% $346.9M 2,256 $156 51

Fri Feb 6 #9 $900.0K +156% −36% $347.7M 1,878 $479 52

Sat Feb 7 #7 $2.0M +124% −26% $349.8M 1,878 $1,072 53

Sun Feb 8 #7 $1.4M −32% +14% $351.2M 1,878 $730 54

Mon Feb 9 #7 $308.0K −78% −24% $351.5M 1,878 $164 55

Tue Feb 10 #6 $286.0K −7% −31% $351.8M 1,878 $152 56

Wed Feb 11 #6 $267.0K −7% −30% $352.0M 1,878 $142 57

Thu Feb 12 #5 $303.0K +13% −14% $352.3M 1,878 $161 58

Fri Feb 13 #8 $800.0K +164% −11% $353.1M 1,663 $481 59

Sat Feb 14 #7 $2.0M +145% −3% $355.1M 1,663 $1,177 60

Sun Feb 15 #7 $1.4M −27% +4% $356.5M 1,663 $859 61

Mon Feb 16 #6 $903.3K −37% +193% $357.4M 1,663 $543 62

Tue Feb 17 #7 $335.0K −63% +17% $357.7M 1,663 $201 63

Wed Feb 18 #7 $298.0K −11% +12% $358.0M 1,663 $179 64

Thu Feb 19 #6 $293.0K −2% −3% $358.3M 1,663 $176 65

Fri Feb 20 #12 $600.0K +105% −25% $358.9M 1,407 $426 66

Sat Feb 21 #10 $1.3M +117% −34% $360.3M 1,407 $923 67

Sun Feb 22 #7 $896.9K −31% −37% $361.2M 1,407 $637 68

Mon Feb 23 #11 $207.0K −77% −77% $361.4M 1,407 $147 69

Tue Feb 24 #10 $215.0K +4% −36% $361.6M 1,407 $152 70

Wed Feb 25 #11 $188.0K −13% −37% $361.8M 1,407 $133 71

Thu Feb 26 #11 $198.0K +5% −32% $362.0M 1,407 $140 72

Fri Feb 27 #11 $500.0K +153% −17% $362.4M 1,112 $449 73

Sat Feb 28 #11 $1.0M +100% −23% $363.4M 1,112 $899 74

Sun Feb 29 #11 $700.0K −30% −22% $364.2M 1,112 $629 75

Mon Mar 1 #7 $276.0K −61% +33% $364.4M 1,112 $248 76

Tue Mar 2 #7 $278.0K +1% +29% $364.7M 1,112 $250 77

Wed Mar 3 #7 $242.0K −13% +29% $365.0M 1,112 $217 78

Thu Mar 4 #7 $252.0K +4% +27% $365.2M 1,112 $226 79

Fri Mar 5 #8 $800.0K +217% +60% $366.0M 1,903 $420 80

Sat Mar 6 #7 $1.4M +79% +43% $367.4M 1,903 $753 81

Sun Mar 7 #7 $883.5K −38% +26% $368.3M 1,903 $464 82

Mon Mar 8 #6 $222.0K −75% −20% $368.5M 1,903 $116 83

Tue Mar 9 #7 $229.0K +3% −18% $368.7M 1,903 $120 84

Wed Mar 10 #7 $211.0K −8% −13% $368.9M 1,903 $110 85

Thu Mar 11 #6 $236.0K +12% −6% $369.2M 1,903 $124 86

Fri Mar 12 #10 $500.0K +112% −38% $369.6M 1,307 $382 87

Sat Mar 13 #9 $908.0K +82% −37% $370.6M 1,307 $694 88

Sun Mar 14 #9 $626.8K −31% −29% $371.2M 1,307 $479 89

Mon Mar 15 #9 $211.0K −66% −5% $371.4M 1,307 $161 90

Tue Mar 16 #9 $231.0K +9% +1% $371.6M 1,307 $176 91

Wed Mar 17 #9 $199.0K −14% −6% $371.8M 1,307 $152 92

Thu Mar 18 #9 $224.0K +13% −5% $372.1M 1,307 $171 93

Fri Mar 19 #11 $400.0K +79% −20% $372.4M 1,021 $391 94

Sat Mar 20 #12 $598.1K +50% −34% $373.0M 1,021 $585 95

Sun Mar 21 #11 $390.9K −35% −38% $373.4M 1,021 $382 96

Mon Mar 22 #10 $122.0K −69% −42% $373.5M 1,021 $119 97

Tue Mar 23 #10 $122.0K n/c −47% $373.6M 1,021 $119 98

Wed Mar 24 #10 $118.0K −3% −41% $373.8M 1,021 $115 99

Thu Mar 25 #10 $131.0K +11% −42% $373.9M 1,021 $128 100

Tue Jun 28 #8 $818.6K — $377.9M 521 $1,571

Thu Apr 13 #2 $1.2M — $379.1M 1,107 $1,062

Mon Jun 10 #2 $1.8M — $380.8M 1,172 $1,520

Mon Jun 17 #5 $513.4K — −71% $381.4M 1,024 $501

Mon Jun 24 $155.9K — −70% $381.5M 51 $3,056

Sun Jan 18 #5 $2.3M — $381.9M 1,655 $1,375

Mon Jan 19 $94.9K −96% $382.0M 421 $225

Fri Jan 23 $100.0K — $382.1M 244 $409

Sat Jan 24 $200.0K +100% $382.3M 244 $819

Sun Jan 25 #4 $1.1M +450% −52% $383.4M 244 $4,508

Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record

Cumulative total$383.4M

Dec 17Jan 6Jan 26Feb 14Jan 25

Weekend grossWk 10 · $2.9M

$72.6M

$50.6M

$28.2M

$14.2M

$10.2M

$6.8M

$5.3M

$4.3M

$4.2M

$2.9M

W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10

Theater countPeak 3,703 → 244 −93.4%

3,703 open244 now

Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −31.9%

−30.3%

W1→2

−44.3%

W2→3

−49.6%

W3→4

−28.1%

W4→5

−33.6%

W5→6

−21.7%

W6→7

−19.2%

W7→8

−2.5%

W8→9

−31.9%

W9→10

Steepest −49.6%Best hold −2.5%

Run milestones

$300M in 24 days

$100M

Day 4

Dec 20

$200M

Day 11

Dec 27

$300M

Day 24

Jan 9

Profitability

Return on Budget

Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Records held

#9 Best multipliersAll-time 5.19x #12 Biggest December openingsAll-time $72.6M #17 Best second-weekend holds$50M+ openers, all-time −30.3% #39 Biggest worldwide runsAll-time $1.13B

Similar movies

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 · Jackson $349.7M The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 · Jackson $325.7M The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012 · Jackson $303M The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 2013 · Jackson $258.2M The Frighteners 1996 · Jackson $16.6M The Lovely Bones 2009 · Jackson $44.1M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

Complete trilogy The Lord of the Rings Three Decembers, three marathons — Return of the King finishes on top.