Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has filmed new introductions for each movie in the trilogy, featuring anecdotes and behind-the-scenes titbits about making the films.

Made exclusively for the re-release, these clips feature Jackson reflecting on making each film in the trilogy, bringing Middle-earth to the big screen, and how he feels about them now.

Entertainment Weekly described these new, specially made intros as “lengthy” and “welcome.” In one clip shared online, the director discusses how the Tolkien adaptations were filmed as one single giant project. “The thing with these movies, of course, is we shot all three of them at the same time and then in a mixed-up kind of way,” Jackson said in the clip. “So one day we’d be shooting a bit from The Fellowship, then that would be on Monday. On Tuesday, we’d shoot a scene from [second film] The Two Towers, on Wednesday, back to Fellowship again, on Thursday to [final film] The Return of the King. So it was just one film really for us.”

It also sees Jackson admit he was forced to rethink that memorable cave troll fight in Moria, after Viggo Mortensen came into work one Monday morning with an enormous black eye. “So he comes in, and he’s got his eye is bulged out, black eye, shut, like a boxer swollen,” the director explained, “and he says, ‘I’m sorry, Peter. I’m sorry.’ And I said, ‘Oh God.’ So you’ll see that all I could do is to shoot him from the side. I couldn’t shoot [head on].”

A sample portion of the Jackson introduction for the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is available here.

LORD OF THE RINGS NEW INTROS

Peter Jackson’s iconic fantasy films will return to theatres on the 16th, with showings of The Fellowship of the Ring’s Extended Edition. The Two Towers and Return of the King’s Extended Editions will be shown this weekend in theatres nationwide. The trilogy will play again next weekend.

Fathom Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the re-release sold more than 400K tickets and generated $5M+ in estimated domestic box office revenue to date. With fans keen to reconnect with their favourite heroes on the big screen, pre-sale tickets were up 65% on those 2024 theatrical numbers. Due to strong ticket demand and several sold-out locations, additional theatrical locations, dates, and showtimes are being added nationwide.


“The Lord of the Rings Trilogy re-release beginning January 16 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is off to a record start for the franchise at Fathom. We could not be more pleased that the large The Lord of the Rings fanbase will have the benefit of hearing in-depth and exclusively in theatres from Peter Jackson himself prior to each of these three remarkable films,” said Ray Nutt, Chief Executive Officer at Fathom Entertainment. “The extended editions of the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings movies are sure to be a landmark event for fans and a high point for classic film re-releases in 2026.”

Tickets for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy are available now at Fathom Entertainment and participating theatre box offices (theatre locations are subject to change). For more information, please visit Fathom Entertainment.

The Fellowship of the Ring’s 25-Year Anniversary plays on January 16-18 and 23-25