Fact Finder - Movies

Director Peter Jackson took an enormous gamble by filming all three parts of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy simultaneously. New Line Cinema committed nearly $300 million to the project, which was unprecedented for a relatively unproven director at that scale. Filming in Jackson’s native New Zealand took 438 days. This 'batch' approach was a logistical nightmare but allowed for consistency in tone and the reuse of massive sets and digital assets. The gamble paid off: the trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion combined and 'The Return of the King' became the first fantasy film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.