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 that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and those who are going to read them". The "New York Herald Tribune" also seemed to have an idea of how popular the books would become, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". W. H. Auden, an admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded "The Lord of the Rings" as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of John Milton's "Paradise Lost". "New York Times" reviewer Judith Shulevitz criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's