A clash of the тιтans is set to ensue at the box office in years to come with The Lord of the Rings facing off against Star Wars. This will entail a mᴀssive fantasy contest, with each movie vying for the higher box office profits. At worst, one movie could end up cannibalizing the other, eclipsing the pull of the other and hogging all the cinema-goers that week or month. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies are widely known as some of the best fantasy movies in the world, which would seem to put Lord of the Rings in good stead against Star Wars.

However, the latest release in the Lord of the Rings movie franchise didn’t perform quite as well. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim‘s reception was a bit disappointing upon its release on December 13, 2024, the first official Lord of the Rings movie since 2003. Meanwhile, Star Wars has been releasing movies and TV shows throughout the 2000s. These are just a couple of many factors at play, but it is certainly the first time a conflict of this kind has occurred to this extent between the two franchises, making it hard to know how things will pan out.

LOTR & Star Wars Are Both Set To Release New Movies In December 2027

December 2027 Will See Two Huge Fantasy Releases

Both The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars franchises have a movie slated to come out in the last month of 2027. Lord of the Rings’ new Gollum movie is the franchise’s entry for the 2027 holiday season. This incredibly exciting venture will be directed by Andy Serkis, who will also star as Gollum, reprising his historic role from the original trilogy. This story will be told from Gollum’s perspective and will probably cover Gandalf and Aragorn’s hunt for him during the first of Jackson’s groundbreaking movies. It is also likely the movie will feature some of the original Fellowship of the Ring.

Using both the characters and the timeframe of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the Gollum movie (working тιтle The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum) consтιтutes a real Lord of the Rings revival. Contrastingly, the Star Wars movie coming out is unconfirmed in its storyline or premise. While The Hunt for Gollum‘s original release date of 2026 was delayed, Star Wars has booked a release date for December 17 but has not confirmed which movie will premiere. Shawn Levy and Simon Kinberg are both exploring productions, and it could be one of these.

Lord Of The Rings Beat Star Wars In 2002 – But It Wasn’t A Head-To-Head Fight

LOTR & Star Wars Have Had Releases In The Same Year Before

The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movie franchises have released movies in the same year before, but never in the same month. This makes The Lord of the Rings vs. Star Wars clash of December 2027 an unprecedented occurrence, and the two movies face inevitable comparisons. The compeтιтion is made all the more noteworthy by how it could have a significant impact on the revenue of either franchise and could ultimately decide their future. But this huge month for the box office was precipitated by a similar event in 2002.

While Amazon’s Rings of Power explores Lord of the Rings’ Second Age, Warner Bros. situates all its movies in the Third Age. The latest point in this timeline is the Best Picture winner The Return of the King, which is preceded by the 2002 movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Like the Gollum movie, The Two Towers launched in December. However, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones was released in May of that year. So, while The Two Towers was higher-grossing than Star Wars: Episode II, that doesn’t necessarily indicate how the 2027 clash will transpire.

Who Will Win: Star Wars Or Lord Of The Rings?

Star Wars & LOTR Are Two Of The Biggest Fantasy Franchises

Although Star Wars is more sci-fi, whereas Lord of the Rings is pure high fantasy, the two movie franchises are some of the biggest in the fantasy space, and it is difficult to guess which would win a box office contest. Star Wars has the higher ceiling, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens reaping huge rewards for Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2015. However, the franchise has not gotten a cinematic update since 2019’s Episode IX, and some momentum has been lost. However, The Mandalorian & Grogu is set for release in May 2026, and its success will certainly impact the upcoming box office clash.

The War of the Rohirrim may have disappointed at the box office, but The Hunt for Gollum is a very different beast. The War of the Rohirrim was the franchise’s first anime movie, and Warner Bros.’ first animated Lord of the Rings movie, after the Ralph Bakshi and Rankin and Bᴀss movies of the ’70s and ’80s. It didn’t cater to Lord of the Rings’ typical audience and felt more like a spinoff, despite adapting material from the book’s appendices. The Hunt for Gollum may feature Legolas, Aragorn, Frodo, Thranduil, and Gandalf, reuniting fan-favorite actors on screen again, which will draw in moviegoers.

It’s also a challenge to measure where enthusiasm is at for both long-running franchises. Rings of Power saw a better sophomore season and could hype up the next Lord of the Rings movie if it continues this trend, while Star Wars has been inconsistent concerning the quality of its Disney+ releases. The Lord of the Rings trilogy saw better reviews and profits than the Star Wars prequel trilogy all around, while both The Hobbit and the sequel trilogy had their issues. Much could change regarding both franchises in the next two years, which could kill the momentum for either.

Either LOTR Or Star Wars Could Be Delayed Again

Both Star Wars & LOTR Have Been Subject To Delays

However, the December 2027 Star Wars and Lord of the Rings clash may not yet be inevitable. Both franchises are often subject to delays, like The Hunt for Gollum being moved from 2026 to 2027. This kind of thing could happen again for The Lord of the Rings movie, especially as it tackles the unique challenge of reuniting a cast that last worked together in the early 2000s. It is also simply possible that either Lord of the Rings or its compeтιтion will move their movie by a few weeks just to avoid this confrontation and loss of profits for both enterprises.

On the Star Wars side, more movies have actually been shelved than made. The franchise is incredibly active, composed of many famous filmmakers who are also huge fans. This leads to a lot of industry conversations and press releases, while not all rumored pictures see the light of day. If the movie planned for December 2027 runs into trouble, Star Wars will have to go back to the drawing board and see if it can find another project to take its place, and The Lord of the Rings’ December 2027 movie may end up not having to share the limelight.