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How to watch The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in order

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Here's your ultimate guide to watching The Lord of the Rings in order, including chronological and release order!

Lord of the Rings in order: Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring.
(Image credit: New Line)
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With TV and movie prequels now coming thick and fast, staying up to speed on how to watch The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in order isn't the easiest thing in the world. But like a wise old wizard, we're here to guide you through the many Middle-earth adventures.

For starters, The Hunt for Gollum isn't the only return trip to Tolkien's world on the horizon. Another movie, currently being co-written by former late-night host Stephen Colbert, is also in development and will be set in a slightly confusing spot on The Lord of the Rings timeline. This is where we come in. We've compiled the ultimate guide below on how to watch the Lord of the Rings movies and shows in order, so you can get up to speed before the new releases hit.

With The Rings of Power season 3 getting closer by the day, there's never been a better time to get up to date. So, as a certain wizard would say, follow your nose to our guide below.

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The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in release order

Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in The Rings of Power season 1.

(Image credit: Amazon Studios)

There are two main ways to navigate your journey into Middle-earth: in release order, or in chronological order. Here's your guide to the former, which is how most people familiar with the world already will have watched them.

We've got to admit this is probably the most satisfying way to tackle the saga, as it's the way it was intended to be watched. And you won't miss much, as you don’t get a huge amount of context that you’ll need later on from the prequels; they just add more to it once you’ve seen it.

The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in chronological order

Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 (2022)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 (2024)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The other major way to get your head around The Lord of the Rings saga is to tackle it in the order of events. That means starting with The Rings of Power, which is set thousands of years before the movies in the Second Age of Middle-earth and tells the origins of characters like Galadriel and Sauron.

However, for all you Tolkien purists, be warned that The Rings of Power doesn't stick to the letter of Tolkien's canon. In fact, in its current state, it breaks canon and will likely cause some outrage. If you do choose to watch it, I suggest enjoying it as a completely separate piece of work from the timeline, which is more inspired by Tolkien than an actual adaptation of his work.

Then, going back to the movies, there's a very big jump ahead as we enter the Third Age with The War of the Rohirrim. This animated film is set roughly 250 years before the events of the Hobbit films and follows the reign of the Rohan King Helm Hammerhand. Watching this will give you some backstory details for Helm's Deep, which is pretty neat.

Otherwise, the next films in the timeline are The Hobbit films, which take place around 60 years before The Lord of the Rings Movies. Watching them in this order will mean you have a lot more context for some of the big events and main characters by the time you reach The Fellowship of the Ring. So, if you're a viewer who likes to know the whole picture first, then this might be the way for you to tackle it.

Where to watch the Lord of the Rings movies in order

Martin Freeman as Bilbo in The Hobbit.

(Image credit: MGM)

Unfortunately, not all of The Lord of the Rings movies and shows are available in one place. So you'll have to do a bit of streaming platform hopping to be able to stay on top of your watching saga.

Luckily, most are on the same platform. All of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies are available to watch on HBO's streaming platform, HBO Max, in the US. Meanwhile, if you're in the UK, it's a little more complicated. Both the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The War of the Rohirrim are available on HBO Max (with the latter also streaming on NOW). The Hobbit movies, however, are only streaming on MGM+ for now. The Rings of Power is a Prime Video exclusive, so you'll need a subscription to that streaming service to be able to watch it.

If you want to keep it all in one place, you can buy the movies on storefronts like Amazon and Apple TV as well, so you don't have to keep switching apps.

New Lord of the Rings movies and shows

The Hunt for Gollum

A close-up of Gollum looking wide-eyed at Bilbo during The Hobbit movie.

(Image credit: Warner Bros)

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is scheduled for release on December 17, 2027 and will be directed by Andy Serkis, who will also be returning to reprise his role as Gollum.

If you didn't know already, The Hunt for Gollum appeared in The Lord of the Rings appendices and was mentioned throughout The Fellowship of the Ring. The events of the Hunt for Gollum aren't a lengthy affair, though. In fact, it takes place around the time between Bilbo's birthday party and the start of Frodo's adventure, when he is told to leave the Shire. That's a quick timeframe to work with, so we'll likely see Serkis make changes or additions here or there. Whether longtime Tolkien fans embrace those hypothetical story decisions is to be seen.

The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past

Sean Astin and Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings

(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Developed by comedian Stephen Colbert with his screenwriter son Peter McGee, Shadows of the Past will be adapted from chapters of Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring that didn’t make it into Peter Jackson’s 2001 movie – Chapter 3, 'Three Is Company' through to Chapter 8, 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs.' Franchise mainstay Philippa Boyens is working on the script.

Per the official logline, Shadows of the Past will be set 14 years after Frodo's death, as Sam, Merry, and Pippin "set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam's daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began."

Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO David Zaslav stated in 2023 that there are plans for multiple new movies set in Tolkien’s universe, and Boyens has hinted that Gandalf will be a major focus going forward. Stay tuned for updates!

For more on Middle-earth, we've got a guide to the best Lord of the Rings games for you to play right now. Or you can check out our Rings of Power season 2 review if you fancy hearing about Prime Video's latest Tolkien outing.

Emma-Jane Betts
Emma-Jane Betts
Managing Editor, Evergreens

After reviewing films throughout University and being a cozy game expert for years, I realized that entertainment journalism was my true calling in 2019. Since then, I've started multiple new farms in Stardew Valley and have written for several publications such as The Upcoming, PCGamesN, and Wargamer. I was the resident Guides Editor and horror lover for The Digital Fix before joining the GamesRadar+ team in 2024. As the Managing Editor for Evergreens, I lead the development, expansion, and maintenance of all the evergreen content for both games and entertainment on the site, to make sure they are the most helpful and fun pages on the internet!

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