Lord Of The Rings set to depose Harry Potter

Cinemas are bracing themselves for the clash of the sorcerers as Lord Of The Rings challenges Harry Potter for box office supremacy.

The movie is released in Europe and the US and is expected to be a huge money-spinner.

Harry Potter has been at the top of the UK box office charts for the past five weeks.

Producers of the two films have pointed out that they are aimed at different markets with Potter targeted at younger fans.

Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring was given its world premiere last week in London.

Among the stars there were Sir Ian Holm who said: "It's indisputably a landmark in movie history. It's biblical."

And Christopher Lee declared: "I think it will go down in cinema history - this and the next two - because no-one has ever seen anything like it."

All three Rings movies were made at the same time in New Zealand and took more than a year's filming.

JRR Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings books have been loved by generations and millions of devoted fans are desperate to see the movie. But the three films will need to make around £180m to break even.

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone has so far taken £46.9m in the UK since its release, making it the most successful film this year.