The Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings franchises have quite a bit in common. Both are franchises that deal with magic as well as the weird and wonderful, both are based on wildly successful books, both have passionate and loyal fan bases, both of their first films released in 2001, and both made an insane amount of money at the box office.
The box office has become such an important factor in the making of films in Hollywood over the past few decades, and these two franchises managed to do incredible numbers. Here's how they stack up against each other.
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009) - $934,326,396
As the heroes of the story spend their real last year at Hogwarts, Harry and Dumbledore get closer to solving the mystery of Voldemort, all while Draco and Snape are up to something that is sinister, and ends up devastating.
Half-Blood Prince has proven to be one of the more divisive Potter movies in recent years, but that did not stop it from earning amazing amounts of money.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007) - $942,044,510
Making just a little more than Half-Blood Prince was the film that came directly before it; Order Of The Phoenix. The movie introduced its titular group and followed a tumultuous year for Harry following the return of Voldemort.
On paper, it seems very hard to fit the longest book into the shortest movie, but that is what happens in The Order Of The Phoenix, and while not heralded as the best by many, it still does an excellent job in that regard.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - $951,208,089
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is one of those special trilogies that people will always argue as being the best, alongside those like the original Star Wars trilogy, the Dark Knight trilogy, and the Toy Story trilogy. To many, the pinnacle of the said trilogy is Two Towers.
The movie continues the journey of the heroes wonderfully and is jam-packed with action, emotion, beauty, and pretty much everything else that will earn nearly a billion at the box office as well as critical acclaim.
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014) - $956,019,788
Peter Jackson's other Middle Earth trilogy based on a J. R. R. Tolkien novel earned a whole load of money, but earned nowhere near the same critical or audience acclaim.
The third entry ended the trilogy in a decent manner, but the overall potential for the trilogy seemed to get a bit wasted and lost in the spectacle.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013) - $958,366,855
Desolation Of Smaug acts similarly to Two Towers in the sense that both Two Towers and Smaug are arguably the best of their respective trilogies, despite obviously having no comparison in quality between the two themselves.
The movie is more exciting than its bookends, and despite dipping from the first entry, it still earned a high amount of money at the box office.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) - $976,920,103
The epic finale of the Potter series was split into two parts, with the first part a much more somber, solemn affair as our heroes set out to find and destroy the Horcruxes on their way to defeating Voldemort.
The movie was well-received overall, with droves of people going to see the film. Although, a lot of the time, it does feel like a stepping stone to the true finale, which is never good.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (2001) - $978,087,613
Releasing four years after what was an immensely popular book, the film version of The Sorcerer's (or Philosopher's) Stone hit theaters, and fans came in incredible amounts to see the film.
It holds up in quality with its entertaining, albeit somewhat childish, nature, and it's faithfulness to the source material, and it was not until Order Of The Phoenix when the franchise would earn over $900 million again.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - $1,017,003,568
An Unexpected Journey, like the rest of the trilogy, proved more popular with fans than critics, but that does not mean it managed to come anywhere near the bar set by Peter Jackson eleven years prior.
It was undoubtedly a visual treat, but the movie drags a lot, with a pace that is a bit too deliberate, taking away from it completely. Yet, that did not take away from the box office.
The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003) - $1,142,219,401
Return Of The King broke records at the Oscars, clean sweeping at the ceremony, and that itself was a testament to the trilogy which was wrapped up in a fantastic way with this film.
Earning over $1.1 billion is an incredible feat, making it hard to believe this film did not top the list. Nevertheless, it was a satisfying and emotional conclusion to the trilogy that will be rewatched for years.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) - $1,341,932,398
Winning the battle of the box office between these two magical franchises is the final entry in the Potter series, which was an action-packed, fast-paced affair that finished the series on an extremely high, and bittersweet note.
The movie sits in the top fifteen highest-grossing movies of all time in terms of its worldwide lifetime gross, and might be there for a long while. It wildly impressed both the fans and critics who went to see it, of which there were many.