Return of the King Closes Out the Lord of the Rings on the Big Screen

The final march into Middle-earth begins today.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King opens in U.S. theaters, closing Peter Jackson’s three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic and giving moviegoers the winter event they have been waiting for since The Fellowship of the Ring arrived two years ago. New Line Cinema’s third installment brings back Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin and the rest of the ensemble for the last chapter of the story.

The film arrives with unusual weight for a December release. It is not just another sequel. It is the end of a trilogy that has become part of everyday pop culture, from theater lines and DVD shelves to school conversations about favorite characters, battle scenes and whether the movies can possibly land the ending.

The official film record lists a Dec. 17 U.S. release, following a Dec. 1 premiere in Wellington, New Zealand. It also identifies Jackson as director and co-screenwriter, with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens sharing screenplay credit. The running time is listed at 200 minutes, which means anyone going after school should plan for a long night and probably a late ride home.

The story picks up where The Two Towers left off: Frodo and Sam pushing toward Mount Doom, while Aragorn, Gandalf and their allies face Sauron’s forces. For fans who have followed the trilogy in theaters, the appeal is straightforward. This is the film that decides whether the ring is destroyed, whether Aragorn takes his place, and whether the long journey ends with the emotional force the first two movies promised.

At Piper and high schools across the country, the release is ready-made lunch-table material. Some students will see it opening weekend. Others will wait until winter break. The spoiler problem starts immediately, because the book has been around for decades but the movie version is what everyone will be reacting to now.

The Return of the King opens as the rare movie that feels like an appointment. It is big, long, serious and built for the biggest screen a theater can offer. For freshmen in the class of 2007, it may become the first holiday-break movie that everyone seems to be talking about at once.