Stars and fans out in force for Rings premiere
Leicester Square was transformed into Middle-Earth when the cast attended the screening of Return of the King.
Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen were among the stars to appear on the red carpet to herald the release of the third and last film.
The first two instalments in the trilogy made close to $1 billion and this one is being tipped to make even more becoming only the second film to pass the $1bn after Titanic.
The critics are now wondering whether Return of the King could win the ultimate prize best picture at next year's Oscars.
The fantasy adventure is even bigger than the first two films, weighing in at three hours and 11 minutes and featuring a series of spectacular battle scenes.
It again follows hobbit Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, as he continues his journey through Middle- Earth to destroy the Ring.
Director Peter Jackson has described it as his favourite of all the three films, which are based on JRR Tolkien's books.
Last night's crowds were not able to rival last week's world premiere in New Zealand, when more than 100,000 people lined the streets of the capital Wellington to cheer the film's stars. The country has been consumed by Hobbit-mania ever since director Jackson, himself a New Zealander, decided to film the trilogy there.
