The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy consists of three live action films, directed by Peter Jackson. Principal photography for all three movies took place in New Zealand over a continuous eighteen-month period — the first time that three films had ever been shot together in this way, although some pairs of movies had. There were several later "pick-up" shoots over the following months and years as the movies were edited, special effects were added and the script was honed and revised.
The movies for the most part follow the storyline of the books (see J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings); however there are some major diversions as detailed within the entry for each movie.
Facts and figures about the trilogy
- Amount of film shot during production: Over 6 million feet
- Swords, axes, shields and makeup prosthetics created: 48,000
- Background actors cast: 20,602
- Costumes produced by the wardrobe department: 19,000
- New Zealand cricket fans enlisted to create the Orc army's grunts: 10,000
- Behind-the-scenes crew members: 2,400 at the height of production
- Pairs of prosthetic Hobbit feet created: 1,600
- Most real horses in one scene: 250
- Computer special-effects artists employed: 180
- Total speaking roles: 114
- Locations in New Zealand used as backdrops: 100.
- Tailors, cobblers, designers, et al. in the wardrobe department: 50
- Actors trained to speak fictional dialects and languages: 30
- Total years of development for all three movies: 7
- Combined worldwide box-office gross: US$2,911,519,252
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