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1 of 9Elijah Wood filming The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.New Line Cinema -
2 of 9Storyboard for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.New Line Cinema -
3 of 9Andy Serkis as Gollum filming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002.New Line Cinema -
4 of 9Viggo Mortensen, right, filming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002.New Line Cinema -
5 of 9Peter Jackson and Sean Bean filming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002.New Line Cinema -
6 of 9Behind the scenes of Peter Jackson and Sean Bean filming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002.New Line Cinema -
7 of 9Sean Bean and David Wenham filming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002.New Line Cinema -
8 of 9Peter Jackson and Liv Tyler filming The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003.New Line Cinema -
9 of 9Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen filming The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003.New Line Cinema
Believe it or not, it’s been nearly 15 years since the release of the first installment of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which means it’s time to take a look back at some of the amazing moments that went into making the beloved trilogy.
The Fellowship of the Ring — which hit theaters on Dec. 19, 2001 — introduced audiences to Jackson’s vision of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, featuring Elijah Wood as the hobbit Frodo Baggins and Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf. It was followed by 2002’s The Two Towers and 2003’s The Return of the King, concluding a franchise that became the winningest in Oscars history, earning 11 awards at the 2004 ceremony alone.
Check out the gallery above for a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the groundbreaking series.
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