{"id":24856,"date":"2026-02-04T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=24856"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:05:31","slug":"middle-earths-25th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/middle-earths-25th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle-earth\u2019s 25th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A still of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee as they set out
on their journey in \u201cThe Fellowship of the Ring.\u201d | Photo from @lordoftherings on Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feb, 4, 2026 | Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

Two weekends in January saw the legendary \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy return to theaters across the country. This year marks the 25th anniversary of \u201cThe Fellowship of the Ring,\u201d the first film in the trilogy, and New Line Cinema partnered with Fathom Events \u2014 which are typically shown at Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres \u2014 for exclusive showings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last time the trilogy was in theaters was September of 2019, showing the extended editions in Flashback Cinema partnered theaters. With the films\u2019 popularity, they typically return to theaters in five-year cycles for the anniversary of \u201cThe Fellowship of the Ring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing these films in theaters is an experience that is indescribable. While I was unable to attend the showings this year, I did attend the 2019 showings when I was a sophomore in high school. \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d is perhaps my all-time favorite trilogy, with \u201cThe Two Towers\u201d \u2014 the series\u2019 second film \u2014 being my preferred of the three.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One major change, however, for this exclusive event from previous showings, came with the availability of D-Box motion seats and 4DX screening options, as well as all films being shown in Dolby Vision \u2014 an advanced HDR color option meant to enhance the theater experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the two weekend showings, \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d also hit another major milestone: \u201cThe Return of the King\u201d has now officially surpassed a rival blockbuster franchise-ender at the box office. With the $1.6 million of revenue generated, \u201cReturn of the King\u201d has now beaten \u201cHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows \u2014 Part 2.\u201d That\u2019s right. \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d has finally dethroned \u201cHarry Potter.\u201d While it is a small win for Peter Jackson\u2019s trilogy, it is still a win. It is important to note, however, that neither movie is close to earning half the total of the highest-grossing domestic box office movie. That belongs to \u201cStar Wars: Episode VII \u2014 The Force Awakens.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another interesting note is that \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d trilogy, the prequel to \u201cThe Lord of the Rings,\u201d will not be returning to theaters for its 15th anniversary next year. It is highly unlikely that it will return to cinemas due to its lack of popularity among fans. I, however, would like to see them in theaters at least once, as I was nine when the first one released, and \u2014 hot take \u2014 they\u2019re actually good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next movie set in Middle-earth to hit theaters will be \u201cThe Hunt for Gollum,\u201d which is slated for a December 2027 release. The film will follow Aragorn as he hunts for the titular character, and Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are supposed to reprise their roles as Gollum, Gandalf and Frodo Baggins, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, fans can stream all movies set in Middle-earth \u2014 \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy, \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d trilogy and \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,\u201d as well as a slew of throwback animated movies \u2014 on HBO Max.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feb, 4, 2026 | Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor Two weekends in January saw the legendary \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy return to theaters across the country. This year marks the 25th anniversary of \u201cThe Fellowship of the Ring,\u201d the first film in the trilogy, and New Line Cinema partnered with Fathom Events \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Middle-earth\u2019s 25th anniversary","_seopress_titles_desc":"\u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy returned to theaters","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9386,6611,8825,8821,9385,3253,2059,9390,9389,9384,2998,9387,8823,8819,8133,9388,8824,684,1556,608,39],"class_list":["post-24856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-amc-theatres","tag-aragorn","tag-fellowship-of-the-ring","tag-frodo","tag-gimli","tag-gollum","tag-harry-potter","tag-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows","tag-jrr-tolkien","tag-legolas","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-regal-cinemas","tag-return-of-the-king","tag-samwise","tag-the-hobbit","tag-tolkier","tag-two-towers","tag-western","tag-western-oregon","tag-western-oregon-university","tag-wou"],"modified_by":"saragerrick","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24865,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856\/revisions\/24865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}