More than 20 years following the first film’s initial release, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy remains an enduring favorite.
The films have provided comfort for millions of fans over the years, becoming sick day favorites and spawning countless drinking games. The fanbase behind Lord of the Rings is passionate and lively and continues to grow on the daily.
The films behind this excitable fanbase, however, have become slightly harder to track down in recent years. While many fans have personal collections of stunning extended editions at home, others have yet to invest in physical copies of them. This leaves them at the mercy of the streaming gods, who can be fickle at times.
The entire trilogy — not in its extended form, but still — used to be streamable on Netflix, but the platform removed the films in 2020. They are unlikely to return to Netflix in the near future, which diminishes streaming options for many fans.
Not to worry ⏤ the films are still available to stream, just not on the world’s most popular service.
Where are the Lord of the Rings movies available to stream?
The loss of Lord of the Rings on Netflix hit fans hard, particularly those who had been relying on the service to provide a constant dose of emotionally mature men and courageous Hobbits. Many people began falling asleep to the films while they were available on Netflix and came to expect that they would always be there.
Thankfully, their absence from Netflix doesn’t mean that every Lord of the Rings fan needs to immediately track down and purchase a personal copy of the trilogy. The films are still available to stream, but you’ll need an HBO Max subscription to access them.
All three films are available for free with an HBO Max subscription, as are their extended editions. This is a particular perk for die-hard fans, many of whom hardly recognize the theatrical cuts anymore. The streaming service also offers up the entire Hobbit trilogy for fans to enjoy.
A monthly subscription to HBO Max will run you $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year, so long as you’re willing to tolerate ads. If you want to go the ad-free route, a subscription will cost $14.99 a month and $149.99 annually. You can also add it to a variety of streaming packages, like those offered by Hulu and Amazon Prime.