Director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings is among the most-beloved film trilogies of all time, grossing $2.981 billion at the worldwide office, and winning a combined 17 Academy Awards -- among them, Best Picture for The Return of the King -- from 30 nominations. While each of the three films had been available on Netflix, on and off, over the past several years, beginning in 2018 with The Fellowship of the Ring, the franchise left the streaming giant in early 2020, seemingly for good. Here's why.

The Lord of the Rings' Netflix History

Gandalf the Grey in The Fellowship of the Ring

Release in 2001, The Fellowship of the Ring was became available on U.S. Netflix in January 2018. However, the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy novel was then removed for a few months before returning that August. In January 2019, the film left the platform entirely, while its sequels, The Two Towers and The Return of The King, were added in September. They were removed at the end of March 2020. Although U.S. Netflix held the streaming rights to all three films, it never offered the entire trilogy at the same time.

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Why Was The Lord of the Rings Removed From Netflix?

Gandalf and a Balrog battle in The Lord of the Rings

Although a marquee franchise like The Lord of the Rings encourages more subscribers, the streaming rights are also more expensive, which is why popular films that aren't Netflix Originals don't last long on the service. In addition to being more affordable, this practice also benefits Netflix's user model, which keeps subscribers watching by suggesting new, popular content. By constantly cycling through popular films, the service's vast media library appears even larger. Its streaming numbers also played a role in Netflix's decision to only host the films temporarily. Despite the immense popularity of The Lord of the Rings, none of the films ranked among Netflix's top 10 most-watched movies in 2019.

Throughout its entire run on the platform, Netflix also had to fight an uphill battle for the series' streaming rights. While Fellowship of the Ring was on Netflix, the streaming rights to The Two Towers and Return of the King were owned by Hulu and later Starz. The final nail in the coffin came in May 2020 with the launch of WarnerMedia's HBO Max streaming service, two months after the departure of The Lord of the Rings from Netflix.

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Where Can I Stream The Lord of the Rings Trilogy?

Frodo and Sam look towards Mordor in The Lord of the Rings

The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, in both original and extended editions, remains available to stream on HBO Max, alongside the second film in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug. The Lord of the Rings can also be found on Amazon's Prime Video, home to the streaming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Prime Video also holds the streaming rights to all three Hobbit movies: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.