The History of The Lord of the Rings "The Lord of the Rings". J. R. R. Tolkien conceived the latter as a single volume comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices, but the original publisher split the work into three, publishing two books per volume with the appendices included in the third. The titles proposed by Tolkien for the six books were: Book I, "The First Journey" or "The Ring Sets Out"; Book II, "The Journey of the Nine Companions" or "The Ring Goes South"; Book III, "The Treason of Isengard"; Book IV, "The Journey of the Ring-Bearers" or "The Ring Goes East"; Book V, "The War of the
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King the trilogy would be in the region of $6 billion following an investment of $300 million ($426 million including marketing costs). "The Return of the King" holds an approval rating of 93% on the aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 269 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is a moving and satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy". The film holds a weighted average score of 94 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".