The Lord of The Rings broke records around the World and is recognized as one of the most famous and successful film series of all time, garnering nearly $3 billion. The scope of the movies is huge, with a budget of nearly $300 million and a running time of 683 minutes in the extended edition, but the impact was also huge for New Zealand.
Most of the filming took place in the tiny island country, where director Peter Jackson said the diverse landscape was perfect for the many different shots that were necessary. Just to gain a scope on how large the project was, 48,000 pieces of armor, 500 bows, 10,000 arrows, and 19,000 costumes were constructed. Nearly 2,000 Hobbit feet alone were created! For fight scenes, Jackson wanted them to be as realistic as possible, and enlisted the New Zealand army as extras.
Unfortunately, fighting broke out in East Timor and they couldn’t be used. Nonetheless, for New Zealand alone, nearly $200 million dollars was brought into the economy!