The Lord of the Rings Ring" and part of "The Two Towers". A three-issue comic book version of the movie was also published in Europe (but not printed in English), with illustrations by Luis Bermejo. When Bakshi's investors shied away of financing the second film that would complete the story, the remainder of the story was covered in an animated television special by Rankin-Bass. Stylistically, the two segments are very different. The second and more commercially successful adaptation was Peter Jackson's live action "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, produced by New Line Cinema and released in three instalments as "" (2001), "" (2002),
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".