The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy returns to Netflix – but it may just be a temporary stay.
As revealed in the New on Netflix press release, the world’s number one streaming service will become home to Peter Jackson’s award-winning film series on February 1.
The announcement ends the nearly three-year wait for the trilogy to return to Netflix, and for the first time, all three films will be simultaneously available on the platform. However, the movies will only be available for streaming on US Netflix. UK viewers will need to sign up for Now TV to watch them on British shores.
Bringing The Lord of the Rings back to Netflix is an interesting move. One of Netflix’s biggest rivals – Prime Video – is home to The Rings of Power, which acts as a pseudo-prequel to JRR Tolkien’s fabled series of fantasy books and Jackson’s default films.
On the face of it, it would make more sense for Amazon to strike a licensing deal with Embracer Group, the current owner of The Lord of the Rings rights, to bring the trilogy to its streaming service. However, given that the creators of The Rings of Power are as confused as the rest of us about the franchise’s new owners, who knows why that won’t be the case.
It’s also unclear how Netflix’s latest licensing deal will affect the Lord of the Rings trilogy on HBO Max. Currently, all three films can be watched on Warner Bros.’s main streaming platform. Discovery (WBD). Warner Bros. was indirectly responsible for film distribution in the early 2000s – he owns New Line Cinema, the subsidiary behind Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So it would be weird if WBD removed these three movies from its HBO Max catalog to allow Netflix to stream them exclusively.
A new Netflix adventure, but for how long?
Likewise, it remains to be seen how long Netflix’s latest Lord of the Rings licensing deal will last.
Previously, The Fellowship of the Ring – the first installment in the hugely popular film series – debuted on Netflix in January 2018. However, it was removed a few months later before returning in August. His second stay lasted five months before The Fellowship of the Ring was removed entirely in January 2019.
Meanwhile, its sequels – The Two Towers and The Return of the King – were added in September 2019 before leaving in March 2020. These departures coincided with the official launch of HBO Max when the streaming platform was released to the world in May 2020.
Given that the movies have previously been short on Netflix, it will be interesting to see how long all three movies hold up. Obtaining the rights to any third-party content is a costly endeavor for any streaming company, so it’s unclear how long Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies will remain on Netflix.
It is possible that the streaming giant has entered into an interim deal with WBD to add movies to its former catalog with the aim of attracting new subscribers. Netflix has set a deadline to crack down on password sharing, so perhaps this is its way of encouraging new customers to purchase their own accounts. However, with Netflix adding 7.66 million new subscribers to its user base in Q4 2022, it has no problem getting people to sign up.
Regardless, given the brevity of their previous appearances on Netflix, we advise you to stream the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy when February 1 arrives. Who knows how long they’ll be available, so it’s best to watch them as soon as possible.
For more on The Lord of the Rings and other streaming content, read what we know about Rings of Power season 2. Also, find out if Jackson’s trilogy is part of our list of HBO Max’s best movies, or see what are the best Netflix movies and best movies Prime Videos are here right now.