When Frodo is writing in his book, the top of the page notes that Sam was elected Mayor of Hobbiton.

Ian McKellen’s first day of shooting on the trilogy was Gandalf’s first scene, arriving in Hobbiton. His second day of shooting was Gandalf’s final scene of the film, at the Gray Havens.

Originally, Aragorn was to have fought the physical embodiment of Sauron during the climactic battle at the Black Gate, but it was not used in the final film. Aragorn’s fight with a troll at the Black Gate uses footage from the Aragorn/Sauron battle.

Like Billy Boyd earlier in the film, Viggo Mortensen also composed the tune to the song Aragorn sings at his coronation.

Even though Saruman’s demise appears in the Special Extended Edition of The Return of the King, Christopher Lee was (and still is) “not amused” that his character was cut from the theatrical release. In an interview done after the release of the Extended Edition, he acknowledged that the makers gave him several arguments for trimming the scene (pacing and time constraints), but in his opinion, none of them justified omitting such an important narrative element.

The body count for The Return of the King is 836.

For the moment where Eowyn comforts the dying King Theoden, Miranda Otto had to play most of the scene without her co-star as Bernard Hill had already completed filming all his scenes and had been given a farewell party. Fortunately, when the film-makers realized they wanted to do a little more with the scene, they were able to call on Hill - who was holidaying on New Zealand’s South Island - to come back for one more day of filming.

Sean Astin’s daughter, Alexandra Astin plays Sam and Rosie’s daughter, Elanor. Sarah McCleod’s daughter, Maisy McCleod-Riera plays Sam and Rosie’s son, Frodo.