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),
Principal photography of The Lord of the Rings film series Principal photography of The Lord of the Rings film series Principal photography for "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy was conducted concurrently in New Zealand for 438 days from October 11, 1999 through to December 22, 2000. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2003. The trilogy was shot at over 150 different locations, with seven different units shooting, as well as soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown. Peter Jackson directed the whole production, while other unit directors included Alun Bollinger, John Mahaffie, Geoff Murphy, Fran Walsh, Barrie Osborne, and Rick Porras. Jackson monitored these units with live satellite