The Lord of the Rings has a complicated story, and with several movies and a TV show to check out, it’s not uncommon to wonder what order is best to view them all in. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies are the main installments of the franchise, but there are other тιтles that some audiences are unfamiliar with.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings is one of the top fantasy franchises of all time, and in 2001, he released the first adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendary book trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. Since then, Lord of the Rings has become an iconic name, spawning an entire franchise of films, TV shows, and even video games.

The Lord Of The Rings Movies & TV Shows In Chronological Order

The Lord of the Rings‘ timeline is undoubtedly complex, and even die-hard fans of the franchise can have difficulty remembering the order of events sometimes. Thankfully, it’s easy to remember that the timeline begins with the only Lord of the Rings TV show (so far), The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years prior to the events of The Hobbit movies, but it also offers us two flashbacks that provide more context on important LotR events. Season 1 begins with a flashback to the First Age’s War of Wrath, and season 2 kicks off with another that sees Sauron being betrayed by the orcs in the Second Age.

The next installment, The War of the Rohirrim, is set only 123 years before The Hobbit. However, unlike The Rings of Power, it takes place in Middle-earth’s Third Age, much like the rest of the franchise.

After completing The Lord of the Rings‘ TV show and the only animated film in the series, it’s time to dive into The Hobbit trilogy. The first film introduces Bilbo Baggins 60 years prior to The Fellowship of the Ring, and by the end, he gets his hands on the iconic One Ring.

The Desolation of Smaug follows on immediately from this, as Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the gang trek toward the Lonely Mountain. They also meet LotR‘s Legolas later on, before finally encountering the dragon Smaug.

The Battle of the Five Armies wraps up The Hobbit trilogy brilliantly with an epic blowout between multiple species, and while not everyone survives, Bilbo does. This isn’t shocking to those who are familiar with LotR‘s timeline, however, as at the end of The Battle of the Five Armies, we see Bilbo happily living in the Shire again and celebrating his 111th birthday with Gandalf.

Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum isn’t due for release until 2027, but based on what we know about it so far, it seems more than likely it’ll be set between the events of The Hobbit and the LotR movies. The Hunt for Gollum‘s place in the timeline isn’t confirmed yet, but it’s hard to imagine it’ll take place at any other point.

Jumping forward 60 years, The Fellowship of the Ring introduces us to Bilbo’s cousin and LotR‘s leading man, Frodo. The Fellowship of the Ring actually begins on Bilbo’s 111th birthday, which prompts him to leave for one last adventure and leave the One Ring with Frodo, which sparks the series of events that we follow throughout The Lord of the Rings movie timeline.

The Fellowship of the Ring also features flashbacks that allow us to better understand past events. The most notable is at the start of the film, which gives us a glimpse at the end of Middle-earth’s Second Age, and this prologue also links up with The Rings of Power.

However, there is another that focuses on a young Aragorn, but based on clues and context, it’s clear that this occurs before The Hobbit trilogy. The timeline doesn’t change mᴀssively in the last two installments, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, but plenty happens.

After making it to Mordoor, an epic fight in the gorge of Helm’s Deep, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields against Sauron, our heroes save the day, and Middle-earth, which marks the beginning of the Fourth Age. While this ends The Lord of the Rings timeline for now, hopefully this will change in the future.

The Lord Of The Rings Movies & TV Shows in Release Order

The Lord of the Rings franchise begins with the three films in the main series: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, which were released in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively. The franchise took over the world of fantasy cinema in the 2000s, and Peter Jackson’s depiction of Tolkien’s works was a H๏τ topic throughout the decade.

It took 9 years before Middle-earth returned to screens, with Jackson coming back to bring The Hobbit to life. Just like LotR, the Hobbit films, enтιтled An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies were released in 2012, 2013, and 2014, with only one year between each installment.

Interestingly, Peter Jackson had wanted to adapt The Hobbit from as early as 1995, before Fellowship of the Ring was even announced. However, due to behind-the-scenes legal issues with regard to the story rights, development was extremely delayed. Thankfully, Jackson was eventually able to bring The Hobbit to the silver screen, despite the complications surrounding the lawsuits.

After the lawsuit between Warner Bros. and Tolkien’s estate was settled, the author’s people started offering the rights to The Lord of the Rings as a potential TV show. While the likes of HBO and Netflix pitched ideas, Amazon was the only successful service, and this was mainly because they agreed to work closely with the estate to “protect Tolkien’s legacy” (via The Hollywood Reporter).

This eventually became The Rings of Power, which began in 2022 and has aired 2 seasons so far. The Rings of Power season 3 is currently in development, but Amazon are yet to confirm a release date for the next installment.

Not counting any ongoing projects, The War of the Rohirrim is the latest release in the LotR franchise. The War of the Rohirrim was announced in-line with the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy, and was supposedly part of a ploy so that the New Line Cinema production studio wouldn’t lose the film adaptation rights for either The Hobbit or LotR.

The War of the Rohirrim is the only animated тιтle so far, but considering its mixed reviews, it’s unclear whether we’ll see another animated LotR project again anytime soon. However, it’s worth noting that with The Hunt for Gollum arriving in 2027, and at least one other film planned for development, the future of the LotR franchise is wide open.

Which Order Is Best To Watch The Lord Of The Rings In

It seems obvious that audiences would want to watch The Lord of the Rings franchise in release order, but considering the timeline, it also makes sense that some would prefer to follow the events chronologically. However, there are some alternative options.

The Hobbit movies make questionable changes, so watching the original three Lord of the Rings movies and forsaking all other adaptations could be considered the true, definitive story. On the other hand, The Hobbit films offer a lot of intriguing LotR Easter eggs and references, so are certainly worth viewing.

Therefore, it’s also worth watching the theatrical releases of the original trilogy first, then The Hobbit movies, and then returning to the extended editions of Lord of the Rings. Director Peter Jackson also previously stated that when he made the films, he wanted audiences to watch them in chronological order, starting with An Unexpected Journey and finishing with The Return of the King (via YouTube).

Of course, there are several ways to enjoy The Lord of the Rings movies and TV shows. Whether you watch them chronologically, in order of release, or just at random, there’s no real wrong way to watch them (despite what many say).

The Lord of the Rings

Movie(s)

The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Created by

J.R.R. Tolkien

First Film

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Cast

Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt

TV Show(s)

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Character(s)

Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Legolas, Boromir, Sauron, Gollum, Samwise Gamgee, Pippin Took, Celeborn, Aragorn, Galadriel, Bilbo Baggins, Saruman, Aldor, Wormtongue, Thorin Oakenshield, Balin Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Ori, Tauriel, King Thranduil, Smaug, Radagast, Arondir, Nori Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, Marigold Brandyfoot, Queen Regent Míriel, Sadoc Burrows

The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon тιтled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

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