Released on 17 December 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received rave reviews and universal acclaim,and became one of the greatest critical and box-office successes of all time. It was only the second film to gross $1 billion worldwide ($1.12 billion), becoming the highest-grossing film released by New Line Cinema, as well as the biggest financial success for Time Warner in general, until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($1.31 billion) surpassed The Return of the King's final gross in 2011. The film was the highest-grossing film of 2003 and, by the end of its theatrical run, the second highest-grossing film in history. As of June 2016, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing film in history.
At the 76th Academy Awards, it won all 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, therefore holding the record for highest Oscar sweep. The wins included the awards for Best Picture, the first and only time a fantasy film has done so;it was also the second sequel to win a Best Picture Oscar (following The Godfather Part II) and Best Director. The film jointly holds the record for the largest number of Academy Awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).
