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How to watch Lord of the Rings in the most complete order

We can help you watch The Lord of the Rings movies in order, including all the prequel series like Rings of Power

Viggo Mortensen Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers Helms Deep Brego — Image credit: New Line Cinema

Guides by Hayden Hefford, Guides Writer

Additional contributions by Graeme McMillan, Jules Chin Greene

Published on Sun Mar 03 2024

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If you're a fan of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, you will have run into plenty of adaptations of the iconic fantasy story. If you want to watch all of The Lord of the Rings movies in order, you'll have to block out plenty of time. From The Hobbit (including its bizarrely wonderful animated adaptation) and The Rings of Power through to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, this series has had some truly magical entries.

If you're wondering just how to watch The Lord of the Rings in order from start to finish, we've got you covered.

How to watch The Lord of the Rings movies and series in order - chronological order

Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power still — Image credit: Amazon Prime Video

Watching The Lord of the Rings in chronological order is perhaps the best way to follow the events of Middle-earth as it happened in-universe. With a mix of goodies, baddies, and yes, rings, popping up multiple times over the course of the franchise, watching The Lords of the Rings in chronological order will help you keep track of it all.

Below, we’ll list how to watch The Lord of the Rings in chronological order, including all of the movies and series that take place in the main canon:

It all starts with The Rings of Power, Prime Video’s smash-hit series that takes place during the Second Age of Middle-earth. It’s a period that hadn’t yet been explored on the screen, but it’s an incredibly important time for the denizens of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world. It covers the forging of the rings and Sauron’s subsequent rise, with many popular characters from the movies appearing as part of the ensemble cast. The series is still ongoing, but unlikely to cross over with the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which take place thousands of years later.

The Hobbit picks up the torch in the Third Age of Middle Earth, which is by far the most well-known period in Tolkien’s lore. The Hobbit trilogy covers the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and crew as they meet Gollum, find the One Ring, and battle the dragon Smaug. This was released after The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but is set roughly 60 years prior. The Lord of the Rings trilogy picks up on Bilbo’s 111th birthday, but he isn’t the main character here. Instead, it’s his cousin, Frodo Baggins, who goes on a journey to deliver the One Ring to Mount Doom in Mordor.

The origins of The Lord of the Rings on the screen stretch back much further, though. A series of animated projects came in the late 1970s and, though they weren’t part of the canon later established in the movie trilogy, they offer an alternative way to experience Frodo’s adventure with the Fellowship that you can learn more about below.

How to watch The Lord of the Rings movies in order - release order

Watching The Lord of the Rings in release order allows you to follow the Middle-earth saga in the order that it hit the screen. This might make it harder to follow the exact sequence of events, but it helps you avoid any spoiler-filled foreshadowing that may pop up in later projects.

Before we get into the main canon represented on-screen, which contains the two movie trilogies and The Rings of Power, we’ve also listed a few animated projects that were released much earlier. The Hobbit and The Return of the King musical specials were animated by Topcraft, many workers of which later went on to form Studio Ghibli. The Lord of the Rings was an animated movie disconnected from these two musicals, and served as inspiration for Peter Jackson while he developed The Fellowship of the Ring. None of these animated projects tie into the movies, but they offer a fun bit of LOTR lore for the most dedicated of fans.

Below, we’ll list how to watch The Lord of the Rings in release order, including all of the movies and series released so far:

The Hobbit (animated musical special - 1977)
The Lord of the Rings (animated movie - 1978)
The Return of the King (animated musical special - 1980)
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)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-present)
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (2024)
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (2027)

That covers every onscreen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, and as soon as you've seen all of them, the first question on your mind is going to be: will there be more? The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes," and we're here to tell you what to expect.

Will there be more Lord of the Rings movies?

Fans of the original Peter Jackson trilogy, rejoice, New Line Cinemas and Jackson are reteaming for not one but two new Lord of the Rings movies coming to theaters in the near future. As Popverse has previously reported, the first is tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and will see Andy Serkis not only reprising the titular role but also directing the film. Jackson will serve as a consultant and producer.

Will there be a Rings of Power season 3?

If you're a fan of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, you'll know that Amazon's Prime Video finally confirmed that Rings of Power season 3 has finally been confirmed. There hasn't been a release date announced, though filming began in May 2025.

Should I watch The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings first?

While the release order for The Lord of the Rings movies is important, we're actually inclined to say that you should watch The Hobbit films before you see The Lord of the Rings movies. Because The Hobbit book came out years before The Lord of the Rings, this feels like the most logical way to watch the story play out.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you: