One of the best fantasy masterpieces of all time is leaving streaming very soon
Even though The Lord of the Rings franchise has become intrinsically linked with Prime Video, it doesn’t mean that subscribers will be able to see all the events of Middle-earth on the same platform. By the end of this month, fans who like the original trilogy of epic movies directed by Peter Jackson will have to say goodbye to the early-aughts blockbusters, as all of them are leaving the platform on July 31.
The trilogy – which encompasses The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the three novels written by author J.R.R. Tolkien – changed cinema forever by proving that not only is there a huge audience that will show up to see epic adventures on the big screen, but also that they won’t mind sitting through 3 hours of it. The three movies managed to rake in almost $3 billion at the global box office, which kicked off a slate of book adaptations that included Game of Thrones and even more installments within the Lord of the Rings universe.
The three movies were also immensely praised by critics, with all of them earning Rotten Tomatoes scores that are above 90%. Not by chance, fans became so obsessed with the trilogy that New Line saw the opportunity to release official extended versions of the three movies, with lengthy runtimes that fans have no problem sitting through. The trilogy also skyrocketed the careers of people like Viggo Mortensen (The Dead Don’t Hurt), Orlando Bloom (Deep Cover), Andy Serkis (Venom: The Last Dance), Miranda Otto (Talk to Me), and Sean Bean (Snowpiercer), aside from featuring household names like Elijah Wood (Yellowjackets) and Ian McKellen (Avengers: Doomsday).
Luckily for Prime Video subscribers, saying goodbye to the Peter Jackson trilogy doesn’t mean saying goodbye to Middle-earth. Fans will still be able to enjoy all episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on the platform. The series takes place almost 5,000 years before the events of the movie trilogy, but it still features characters like Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and Sauron (Charlie Vickers), as in the Tolkien universe, elves are immortal.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is already renewed for Season 3, and production of the new episodes started last month. There will be a time jump in the new season, and it will center around Sauron completing his quest to get all the rings of power, including the infamous One Ring. The new season is yet to get a release date.
The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy will be available to stream on Prime Video until July 31.
Credit: Collider
