Lord of the Rings tourism

The Lord of the Rings (LotR) is a film series in the high fantasy or epic fantasy genre, based on novels by J. R. R. Tolkien, including The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings, published in 3 volumes in the 1950s, set in a fictional world known as Middle-earth. The film series was shot in New Zealand, and the sets are today among the most visited tourist attractions of the country.

Understand
"Frodo: Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone. Sam: Of course you are. And I'm coming with you."

While Tolkien's novels codified the epic fantasy genre, and assembled an unprecedented community of fans, its live-action adaptation took many decades to develop. An animated film series made in the 1970s was met with lukewarm reviews, and fans expressed skepticism when New Zealand director Peter Jackson was announced to direct a Lord of the Rings film trilogy for release in 2001 to 2003.

The total budget of Jackson's trilogy was US$280 million. The films were praised by critics and fans, combining to win a total of 17 Academy Awards out of 30 they were nominated for. The final film in the series, The Return of the King, won all 11 Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture, making it tied with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the greatest number of Academy Awards won by a single film.

In 2012 to 2014, Peter Jackson moved backwards in the story's chronology and adapted The Hobbit novel into a trilogy of films. While not as critically successful, with only the first film winning a single honorary Academy Award, the films were a box office success, outgrossing the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The works have been adapted to several media, including video games, board games, and inspired later works, as well as live-action roleplaying.

The film franchise continues to maintain a website with information about Blu-ray and DVD re-releases and the like. The publisher of the books also maintains its own website covering The Lord of the Rings, as well as other works by Tolkien.

Prepare
The Hobbit is the most accessible of the books, and a recommended first read, followed by the novel trilogy, and the original film trilogy (which would be a great introduction for a visit to New Zealand). The Hobbit films and other material could be saved for later.

Studios
All six films were produced at Stone Street Studios in the city of Wellington, New Zealand, which is still an active film studio and is generally not open to the public. However, most of the props and sets were designed and made in the nearby Weta Workshop, which does host public tours that can be booked through the company website.



Filming locations
The Lord of the Rings was filmed entirely in New Zealand, making use of the country's famed stunning landscapes as a backdrop for many scenes. It's due to this and the sometimes pretty long landscape shots that some jokingly call the films "one giant tourism advertisement for New Zealand".

Waikato
Matamata is where the Shire and Hobbiton scenes were filmed.

Greater Wellington
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. One of the most picturesque cities in the world and where the production of the trilogy was centred in. Much of the close-up shots were filmed in locations throughout the city and in the neighbouring Hutt Valley. The director of the films, Peter Jackson, was born and continues to reside in Wellington.





Nelson
Just across the sea from Wellington, and home to the workshop where many of the props were made. Several filming sites are also located in the surrounding countryside.

Canterbury
The Mackenzie Country around stood in for Pelennor Fields.

Queenstown-Lakes
Many scenes were filmed in the areas surrounding the town of near. This area is well known as one of the most scenic, though remote areas of New Zealand, and some filming sites are located several hours' drive from civilisation on gravel roads.



Locations connected to Tolkien
There are also several locations connected to the author of the books, J. R. R. Tolkien, that have been popular with fans of the books for a long time before the films were even made.


 * Bloemfontein, South Africa - Where Tolkien was born to English parents.
 * Birmingham, England - The city where Tolkien grew up in after his father's death when he was 3 years old.
 * Oxford, England - Tolkien was a student, and later a professor at the University of Oxford, during which he wrote both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It was also here that he formed a long-lasting friendship with C. S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, another critically acclaimed fantasy novel series. Both were members of a more or less formalized circle and discussion group of fellow authors called the "Inklings", which met regularly at a pub known as The Eagle and Child.

Learn
Tolkien was a professor of linguistics at the University of Oxford who famously argued with his translators on how certain things should be translated into their native languages, and constructed many fictional languages for the different races of his fictional world. These languages were subsequently expanded on by linguist David Salo for the films, and featured prominently in them. Among the most thoroughly fleshed out and popular of these languages are the Elvish languages of Sindarin and Quenya, spoken by the elves of Rivendell and Lothlórien respectively. Other fictional languages featured in the series included the Dwarvish language of Khuzdul, as well as the Black Speech of Mordor. The popularity of Tolkien's works has led many dedicated fans to attempt to learn these languages. Several Tolkien societies have provided both online resources and actual classes for those interested in learning how to speak the languages, and some of the more passionate ones even conduct some of their society meetings in these languages.