Poster for the film 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King', 2003.

'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' is a 2003 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson, based on the third volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The film is the third instalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and was produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Jackson and Fran Walsh, and written by Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Jackson. The film features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Sean Bean. It was preceded by 'The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001) and 'The Two Towers' (2002).

The film received numerous accolades; at the 76th Academy Awards it won all eleven awards for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song for "Into the West", Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, therefore tying for the record for the most Academy Awards won by a single film and holding the record for the highest clean sweep at the Oscars.