How Long Watching All Lord Of The Rings & Hobbit Movies Takes

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies present an impressive joint runtime, especially with the Lord of the Rings extended edition length padding that runtime. They lend themselves well to leisurely movie marathons with well-stocked snacks. Peter Jackson movie marathons are a favorite of households worldwide, preventing families and friends from having to move for hours. But examining how long it would actually take to watch all The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies reveals that the perfect marathon may take some planning, as one does not simply watch them all in one go.

With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power out on Amazon Prime Video and The Rings of Power season 2 arriving, it’s a good time to be brushing up on The Lord of the Rings world. The Rings of Power is set before Jackson’s films, in the Second Age, so watching the world-renowned movies before the series makes sense if considering the movies as a sequel to the series. The events of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit take place in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Third Age, the last age he discusses in detail in his books.

How Long Watching Peter Jackson’s Theatrical LOTR & Hobbit Movies Would Take

Marathons Can Be Amplified By Incorporating Other Upcoming Releases

Combining the runtimes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies reveals a massive marathon that would take the better part of a day. Viewers can cherry-pick from watching some or all of the movies, depending on the time available for their movie marathon. With the time taken to watch all of The Lord Of The Rings movies alone, a sizeable nine hours and 18 minutes is needed. This is based on the theatrical editions of the movies – the ones released first and shown in theaters.

Adding The Hobbit to the mix creates a movie marathon best split in two, at 17 hours and 12 minutes. To add in The Rings of Power, a Tolkien raconteur may factor in an extra hour per episode, though this is a movie marathon best done in multiple parts. With its release in December 2024, a great add-on for the perfect movie marathon could require adding on two hours and ten minutes to incorporate Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. This addition to the franchise is an anime film about the horse lords of Rohan.

How Long Watching The Lord Of The Rings Movies Takes With Extended Editions

Factoring In Extended Editions Lengthens Movie Marathons Significantly

To get the full experience, the extended versions of Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy are required, which alone total 11 hours and 22 minutes of runtime. To add extended editions of The Hobbit to this timeframe results in a blistering total runtime of 20 hours and 58 minutes. A happy medium may be a marathon of extended editions of The Hobbit on one day and The Lord of the Rings on the next (or vice versa).

Adding The Rings of Power and Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim to a Lord of the Rings movie marathon is ambitious, but a great idea. When a new Warner Brothers Lord of the Rings movie centered on Gollum was announced, an opportunity for an even longer franchise marathon presented itself. Directed by Andy Serkis, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum may be another great addition to a Lord of the Rings movie marathon, bringing Serkis’ iconic take on Gollum to the forefront of the story.

What Order Should You Watch The Lord Of The Rings & Hobbit Movies In

There Are Different Options For The Order Of Play

As for possible viewing orders, one way to watch The Lord of the Rings movies is to go by release dates. In this case, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring would come first, followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and then The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The Hobbit movies would come next, with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey first, followed by The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and finishing off with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. However, the movies are normally watched chronologically, ordering the story as Tolkien intended.

This is a great start to planning the perfect Tolkien movie marathon, but adding the other releases in the franchise chronologically is a logical next step. All of The Rings of Power would come first, being set in the Second Age. Breaking into the Third Age, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim would come next, set around the year 2758. The Hobbit follows, set in the years 2941 and 2942. Beginning in 3018, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring would be the following movie in the series, followed by the other two films in the trilogy.

The Lord Of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum is set in the Third Age, likely between The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but it’s hard to confirm. That’s because Tolkien’s work does not explicitly outline which years Aragorn and Gandalf spent looking for Gollum, although this does happen before Frodo’s journey. The movie covers this period of time, so sandwiching it between The Hobbit and the original trilogy is a good avenue to take.

What Is The Best Way To Watch The Movies?

The Order Of Release Offers The Intended Viewing Experience

While the marathon of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies is a daunting one, there are still fans who want to find the best viewing experience for the massive undertaking. With the movies taking place over different eras in Middle-earth, there are some varied watching orders to use when watching the entire franchise. For many fans who have watched the movies multiple times already, the chronological order is a fun option.

However, as is usually the case, chronological watch orders are fun to try out, but the release order is still the best way to experience all of the movies as intended. While the events of The Hobbit movies take place before the events of Lord of the Rings, they are informed by what audiences already saw in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bilbo’s meeting with Gollum, Gandalf’s relationship with Galadriel, and the tease of Sauron are all made more impactful having already seen the original trilogy.

The Runtime Helps Lord Of The Rings But Hurts The Hobbit

The Bloated Hobbit Movies Could Fell Short

There are many discussions about films being overly long and certain runtimes being excessive, but the Lord of the Rings proved that a movie can be over three hours long and still be gripping from beginning to end. Peter Jackson had a big task in adapting the iconic novels into three movies, and as the Lord of the Rings extended editions proved, there was a lot more material that could have been included. However, Jackson did an exceptional job of figuring out what needed to stay and what had to go.

As a result, the massive runtimes suited the epic feel of the movies. It felt like the films were pulling off something impossible by creating such a vivid and complex world in only three three-hour bits. There was so much story crammed into these first three movies that it felt like a full-realized and thrilling journey to be a part of. In contrast, The Hobbit movies felt like they were being stretched far too thin.

The announcement that Jackson would be adapting The Hobbit novel into three movies was met with a mixed reaction. The idea of Jackson returning to Middle-earth was exciting, but many fans noted that The Hobbit is shorter than any of the Lord of the Rings novels. As such, there were fears that there was not enough material to cover everything. It turns out that those fears were well-founded as The Hobbit movies never felt quite as sharp and well-paced. The movies drag with a less engaging story and added elements, like a love triangle, that were unpopular with many fans.

It is interesting to consider how different The Hobbit movie would have seemed had Jackson gone with the original idea to make it a two-part story instead of three. As it turned out, The Hobbit movies simply did not warrant the runtime that the Lord of the Rings movies pulled off.

How Long It Takes To Watch The Rings Of Power

The First Season Adds Nearly 10 More Hours To The Marathon

With The Rings of Power season 2 debuting, there are likely a lot of people rewatching the franchise in anticipation. Of course, it only makes sense for them to also include the first season of The Rings of Power into that viewing experience which will add quite a lot to the already incredible runtime of the Lord of the Rings franchise. The first season of The Rings of Power consists of eight episodes, each with a runtime of over an hour.

The Rings Of Power Season 1 Runtime

The added runtime of season 1 of The Rings of Power is 9 hours and 17 minutes. Interestingly, the first season is just one minute shorter than the entire runtime of the theatrical version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While there is certainly a lot more to tack onto the already massive runtime, there are many fans who would deem it well worth the time to get a full look at the entire franchise. Of course, by the time season 2 ends, there will be even more to add to the Lord of the Rings marathon.