How to Watch the ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movies in Order Ahead of ‘Rings of Power’

Lord of the Rings fans are prepping themselves for the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video. And what better way to have everything fresh in your mind than to rewatch every movie in the franchise?

Taking place in Middle-earth’s Second Age, Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The series, which is based on author J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, is also the most expensive show in history, making us all the more curious as for what’s to come.

Luckily for us, every movie made in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series is currently available to stream on HBO Max and/or Prime Video. Without further ado, here’s how you can watch them all in order:

Despite coming out over a decade after the original films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), should be first on your list of rewatching in chronological order, followed by The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). In fact, this trio takes place about 60 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.

Once you have those out of the way, you can head back to the OG films, starting with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and, finally, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Of course, if you’re waiting for all of Rings of Power to release, you would binge that first, seeing as it takes place long before anything that happens in the movies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres Sept. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on Prime Video.