The Return Of The King runner-up for box office honours

After an historic haul of 11 Academy Awards, Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King has become the second highest grossing film at the New Zealand box office.

The third and final instalment in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy has reached $12,978,554, surpassing Titanic and predecessor The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.

Now in its 13th week of release, The Return Of The King continues to climb toward the heights achieved by the first instalment of the trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, New Zealand's top grossing film of all time.

The top five films at the New Zealand box office are:

1 The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring $14,608,889

2 The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King $12,978,554

3 Titanic $12,967,660

4 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers $12,134,489

5 Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone $7,800,612

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings