The Lord of the Rings (film series) September 2009, the dispute was settled. The success of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy led to Jackson directing a trilogy of prequels based on Tolkien's children's book "The Hobbit". The films, which were released between 2012 and 2014, used much of the cast and crew of "The Lord of the Rings", including Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm (as older Bilbo), Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom who reprised their roles. Although the "Hobbit" films were even more commercially successful than "The Lord of the Rings", they received mixed reviews from critics. Numerous video
The Lord of the Rings (film series) to enter a deal with Miramax to receive foreign earnings from "The Lord of the Rings" while Miramax received foreign earnings from "King Kong". It was also revealed that Jackson originally wanted to finish "King Kong" before "The Lord of the Rings" began. But due to location problems, he decided to start with "The Lord of the Rings" franchise instead. When Universal cancelled "King Kong" in 1997, Jackson and Walsh immediately received support from Weinstein and began a six-week process of sorting out the rights. Jackson and Walsh asked Costa Botes to write a synopsis of the book and they