title: 2022 United States elections

text: The Democratic Party's strength in state-level and senatorial elections was historic, as well as unexpected. They won a net gain of two seats in the gubernatorial elections, flipping the governorships in Arizona, Maryland, and Massachusetts; conversely, Republicans flipped Nevada's governorship. In the state legislative elections, Democrats flipped both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, the Minnesota Senate, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and achieved a coalition government in the Alaska Senate. As a result of these legislative and gubernatorial results, Democrats gained government trifectas in Michigan for the first time since 1983, and in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Minnesota for the first time since 2015. 2022 is the first midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections in which the president's party did not lose any state legislative chambers or incumbent senators. It was also the first midterm since the 1986 U.S. elections in which either party achieved a net gain of governorships while holding the presidency, and the first since 1934 in which the Democrats did so under a Democratic president. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida—previously considered one of the nation's most contested swing states—won reelection in an unexpectedly large landslide, leading to analysts calling him the election night's biggest winner as well as the Republican Party's only big win.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Six referendums to preserve or expand abortion access uniformly won, including in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Montana, as did those increasing the minimum wage (Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.) and expanding Medicaid coverage (South Dakota), while Maryland and Missouri became the latest U.S. states to legalize recreational cannabis. Voters in Nevada also approved ranked voting over first-past-the-post, while those in Illinois and Tennessee approved a state constitutional right to collective bargain and a right-to-work law, respectively. All but Louisiana of the five states where it was on the ballot (Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont) abolished slavery as punishment for a crime.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Issues that favored Democrats included significant concern over extremism and a lack of respect for democratic norms among Republicans, along with abortion rights and a potential Trump 2024 campaign. Among others, candidate quality, particularly in the Senate, as well as youth turnout and raised concern over climate change and the relative popularity of Biden's climate policy also played a role. Both general turnout and turnout among voters aged 18–29, which are a strongly Democratic constituency, were the second-highest (after 2018) of any midterm since the 1970 U.S. elections. The elections continued demographic trends starting in 2012, in which Republicans made gains among the working class, especially whites but since 2016 also some minorities like Latinos, while Democrats improved among college-educated whites.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: After the 2020 elections, Democrats had a federal trifecta for the first time since the 111th United States Congress in 2011. This gave them a relatively straightforward path to enacting legislation, but the presence of more centrist or conservative Democrats, namely Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, meant that most of the more expansive and often more progressive legislation was blocked. In the White House, Joe Biden started his term out with positive approval ratings, particularly for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, although at about 54 percent it was the lowest approval rating (other than Donald Trump) of a president's first 100 days since 1953, reflecting the country's growing partisanship.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: By mid-2021, as the year progressed with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and the Fall of Kabul, and as key legislation stalled, Biden and Democrats lost popularity and suffered electoral losses, including an upset loss in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, which were widely characterized as a red wave election and as a prelude to the 2022 midterms. In addition, the incumbent president almost always loses seats in Congress and often at least one chamber or overall control, in particular since the post-war period.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Going into 2022, Republicans capitalized on high inflation, crime, and gas prices, and gained a substantial lead in the election climate towards 2022 results similar to the red wave of 2010. The repeal of "Roe v. Wade" by the Supreme Court of the United States in the June 2022 "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" decision led to a spike in Democratic voters' fervor, which narrowed the gap despite Biden's underwater approval ratings, amid better-than-expected election results during this period; this led some observers to wonder whether the 2022 midterms could break the incumbent president's losses and reflect the 1998 U.S. elections, as well as the 2002 U.S. elections, both of which showed increased support for the incumbent president, amid the impeachment of Bill Clinton (1998) and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (2002). By October, Republicans regained a substantial margin in pre-election polls, which led to widespread predictions for a red wave election in favor of Republicans, including the possibility of flipping some blue seats in Southern California under those circumstances, though polls remained within the margin of error.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: After suffering losses in 2021, progressives within the Democratic Party saw improved but mixed results in 2022, with both progressives and moderates winning important races. In 2022, Democratic campaign arms aided radical-right candidates in Republican primary elections, believing they would be easier opponents in the general election. Republican primary candidates who had been endorsed by Trump tended to win, with his support being crucial for many, though his percentage was lower than in previous years, largely due to him taking riskier endorsements. Generally, candidates that received Trump's endorsements were on the far right and those who supported his false claims that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Trump issued primary endorsements to 37 candidates who ran in the general elections in November that were rated as competitive by "The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter".


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Voters suffered from historically high consumer prices, gas prices, and interest rates, which Republicans blamed on Biden's and Democratic policies, as well as government spending; Democrats argued that it was linked to the global surge of inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic-related supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The economy, inflation in particular, remained the top issue for voters throughout 2022. According to an October 2022 Monmouth University poll, 82 percent of Americans considered inflation to be an "extremely or very essential issue" for the government to handle, and seven in ten Americans disapproved of Biden's handling of the cost of living rise. It is not clear whether there is a correlation between rise of inflation, particularly the rise of gas prices, and lower presidential approval ratings, which can cause negative election results; some studies suggest that historically it can hurt the incumbent president in terms of election results, but that this got weaker in recent years.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Following the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" that overturned "Roe v. Wade" in June 2022, Democrats outperformed Biden's results in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in several House special elections, with abortion cited as a major contributor to their victories, as many Republican-controlled states passed restrictive abortion laws, including a total or near-total ban on the procedure. Democrats tried to pass a federal law to protect the right to abortion but did not have enough support in the Senate, and abortion was prioritized as an issue for the general elections. Some Democrats, including party strategists and pollsters, were divided on whether this could help them or if focusing on the economy and inflation, as the latter seemed to grow a bigger concern among voters in the fall, was a better strategy. This led some observers, as well as several major news outlets, including among others ABC News, CNN, and NBC News, to question whether their focus on abortion was the best strategy to avoid losses in the midterms and if it had lost significance since spring.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The "Dobbs" ruling made abortion more important for voters, with a rise in support among voters, particularly young women, for Democrats coming after the decision; at least six states had an abortion-related ballot initiative, the most ever in a single year. After "Dobbs", Republicans attempted to pass several anti-abortion laws at the state level where they were not fully banned, including removal of incest and rape exceptions, but suffered from internal division on the issue. Lindsey Graham, who was not up for reelection in 2022, introduced a federal bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks; most Republicans argued that abortion regulations should be left to the states, and Graham's proposal received a mixed response among Republicans. In several states, such as Indiana, South Carolina, and West Virginia, they struggled to pass new state-level bans and restrictions on abortion despite controlling the state legislatures because they could not agree on their restrictions.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Mass shootings made gun violence and crime more important issues for voters, in particular after the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022, which is common in the aftermath of school shootings. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed in June 2022, provided extended gun-safety laws and was touted by Biden and Democrats. Despite this, Republicans maintained a lead among voters who cited crime as a major issue.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Republicans blamed the increase in violent crime and homicides in 2020 and 2021 on progressives and liberals, as well as attempts to "defund the police", a slogan supported by racial justice protesters but eventually rejected by Biden. In a June 2022 Supreme Court decision, the Roberts Court further expanded the right to keep and bear arms in the United States. Democrats pushed for stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, while Republicans sought to protect legal access to guns and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats campaigned on strengthening democratic institutions, having said that Trumpist supporters grew increasingly authoritarian or "semi-fascist", as Biden had called them in August and September 2022, since Trump and many Republicans continue to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election; as recently as September 2022, Trump said he should be reinstated as president. Democrats also argued that Republicans regaining power would harm U.S. governance, citing the many Republican candidates who denied the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which news outlets tracked. As of July 2022, at least 120 Republican candidates were 2020 election deniers, a majority of whom ran for the House.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: During the party primaries, Republican candidates alleged fraud irrespective of the results; among those who did so and later won the party nomination, Kari Lake said: "We out-voted the fraud." During the general election campaign, Lake refused to say that she would accept the result if she does not win the election, stating that she was "going to win the election, and I will accept that result." Additionally, Republican-controlled states passed laws restricting voting rights or making it harder to vote, as a consequence of Trump's big lie about 2020, which particularly affects minority voters and critics say also reflects a legacy of racial disenfranchisement. In November 2022, Biden said that democracy was on the ballot and cited the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of the Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi, stating that Trump's false claims about a stolen election in 2020 had "fuelled the dangerous rise of political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years".


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The Democratic Party filed lawsuits to remove Green Party candidates from the ballot, most notably the North Carolina Green Party candidate Matthew Hoh in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina, citing an ongoing investigation into the party for fraudulant signatures. Their warning that Greens could divide progressive voters and give Republicans wins in tight races nonetheless received widespread criticism, and Hoh appeared on the ballot.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Republicans argued for parents having more control over what their children are taught in schools, being concerned in particular by discussions on topics such as race, gender identity, and sexuality. Democrats dismissed these concerns as a push for censorship, saying that it would especially harm LGBT students. This came amid increased efforts among Republicans to ban books that discuss those topics, particularly in Republican-controlled states like Florida.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Twenty Republican candidates promulgated the litter boxes in schools hoax, which emerged largely as backlash against recognition of gender variance in schools. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to "recover lost learning from school closures" during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In this election, climate change was a significant issue. 71% of voters considered climate change as a serious problem, even though there were differences in the level of concern. One poll showed that for 51% of voters climate change was one of the more important issues. According to another poll, 64% of people of color were more likely to vote for a candidate that is addressing climate change as one of the three most important points in their agenda. A third poll showed that 9% of voters considered climate change as the most important issue.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Progressive Democrats pushed for legislation to combat the negative effects of climate change, including incentives towards the adoption of renewable energy and electric cars. In August 2022, Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which also included climate change-related policies to address it, and has been described as the first major or significant climate change law, as well as the largest investment to fight climate change in U.S. history.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Immigration is among the issues where the United States is divided the most. Biden revoked some of Trump's anti-immigration policies but not others, and Republicans pledged to continue Trump's hardline policies. An increase of over 385% in border encounters from 2020 to 2022 gave Republicans an edge over Democrats, as Republicans blamed it on Biden and Democrats, and polling showed that voters moderately preferred Republicans over Democrats for solving immigration problems.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In a September 2022 political stunt, Florida governor Ron DeSantis had migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard. This was also done by Republican governors in Arizona and Texas who sent migrants to northerner, more liberal states, which was criticized by Biden, Democrats, and migrant rights groups as a "cruel political theatre".


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Since Biden revealed a plan for student loan forgiveness in August 2022 through an executive order based upon the Higher Education Relief Opportunities For Students Act of 2003, both parties sought electoral gains from the decision, with Democrats potentially attracting young voters who would benefit from the program, and Republicans targeting blue-collar workers who likely did not go to college and would be unwilling to help subsidize the education debts of others. A majority of voters were found to support student loan forgiveness in the run-up to the election.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: During the election campaign, conservatives and Republicans attempted to find plaintliffs, as part of an effort to sue the Biden administration over the proposal, and take the case to the Supreme Court; this temporarily blocked the plan, which included cancelling up to $10,000 of student debt for those making less than $125,000 a year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, as the courts will have to consider legal challanges. In November 2022, a federal judge in Texas struck down Biden's student loan plan. In response, Biden extended a moratorium on the plan from January 2023 to June 2023.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Republicans were benefiting from Biden's low U.S. presidential approval ratings, hovering from 30–40% for much of the year. His ratings briefly increased after several legislative victories in August and September 2022; by October, they again plateaued when voters focused back on the state of the economy. Biden avoided intervention in several key Senate races, among them Arizona, Georgia, and New Hampshire, where his ratings were further below his presidential approval nationally.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the major foreign policy issue, shifting support for Biden and highlighting the Republican Party's perceived support for Russia and Vladimir Putin. One day before election day, Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was in the center of accusations of hidden propaganda activities by the Russian government, in regard to Russian interference in U.S. elections, wrote on "Vkontakte": "We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere."


title: 2022 United States elections

text: With a total of almost 17 billion U.S. dollars in expenditure, the election campaigns for the 2022 midterm elections were the most expensive in the history of the United States.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were up for election, including all 34 Class 3 senator seats. Concurrent with the regularly scheduled Class 3 elections, a special election was held to fill a Class 2 vacancy in Oklahoma. As senators serve six-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for Class 3 senators were held in 2016. The winners of the Senate elections will be sworn in on January 3, 2023, for the 118th U.S. Congress. Going into the election, Democrats and Republicans both held 50 seats, but Democrats had a majority due to their control of the vice presidency, which has the power to break ties in the Senate. In the Senate elections, Republicans defended 21 seats, including six seats left open by retirements. Democrats defended fourteen seats, one of which was an open seat.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: This was the third consecutive midterm election in the incumbent president's first term in which the party not occupying the White House was able to win control of the House but was unable to win the Senate. Democrats performed better than expected in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, where they gained a seat (the sole flipping seat), and Nevada, which allowed them to retain control of the Senate, and with an increased majority after winning the runoff election in Georgia.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Two special elections took place in 2022 to replace senators who resigned during the 117th U.S. Congress:


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In early December 2022, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced she would leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent. She justified her decision in an op-ed for "The Arizona Republic" on December 9, saying: "Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national party." While she did not say if she would caucus with the Senate Democrats, as the Senate's two other independent senators do, she ruled out caucusing with Republicans.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: All 435 voting seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election. Forty-nine representatives and one non-voting delegate (30 Democrats, 20 Republicans) did not seek re-election, and three seats were vacant at the time of the election. The incumbents in the 2022 elections were determined in the 2020 U.S. House of Representatives elections and subsequent special elections. These elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. redistricting cycle, causing several districts to lack an incumbent or have multiple incumbents. Democrats held a 220–212 majority at the time of the election. The race was competitive and closer than expected, with Republicans projected to gain control of the chamber a week later with a slim 221–213 majority; one seat is yet to be called.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Elections were held for the governorships of 36 U.S. states and three insular areas. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for most seats up for election in 2022 were held in 2018. The governors of New Hampshire and Vermont each serve two-year terms, so incumbents in these two states were determined in 2020. Prior to the election, Republicans held a total of 28 seats, 20 of which were up for election in 2022, and Democrats held 22 seats, 16 of which were up for election. Democrats picked up the seats of retiring and term-limited Republican incumbents in Arizona, Maryland, and Massachusetts, while Republicans held onto Arkansas.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democratic incumbents won high-profile contests in Michigan and Wisconsin, while Democrat Josh Shapiro's defeat of Republican Doug Mastriano allowed Democrats to retain control of Pennsylvania's gubernatorial office. A Democratic incumbent also prevailed in a closely contested race in Kansas, while the party held onto Oregon in another closely contested race. Tina Kotek of Oregon is set to be one of the first lesbian governors in the United States, along with Maura Healey in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Republican incumbents won reelection in major races in Florida, Georgia, and Texas, and Mike Dunleavy won reelection to a second term, becoming the first Republican governor of Alaska to be reelected to a second term since Jay Hammond in 1978 and the first governor, regardless of political affiliation, to be reelected to a second term since Tony Knowles in 1998. Democrats made a further gain in Arizona, which set the record for most female governors in U.S. history. The sole gain for Republicans was in Nevada, where Joe Lombardo narrowly defeated the incumbent Democratic governor Steve Sisolak.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Various state-wide executive positions across several states held elections in 2022. State attorneys general were elected in thirty U.S. states, three territories, and one federal district. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The attorney general of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. While Democrats flipped Vermont and Charity Clark became the state's first female attorney general, one notable Republican upset was Brenna Bird's narrow win over Tom Miller, the incumbent Democratic attorney general of Iowa and the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Secretaries of state were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The secretary of state of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. State treasurers and equivalents were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states, plus a special election in Utah. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The treasurer of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Numerous states held judicial elections in 2022. Republicans gained a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court by picking up two seats, raising the possibility of mid-decade redistricting. In another election with major redistricting implications, Republicans retained a majority on the Supreme Court of Ohio.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In 2022, 46 states held regularly scheduled elections in 88 legislative chambers, although not all seats were up in the legislatures holding elections, as some states use staggered terms. Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia did not hold regularly scheduled state legislative elections, as those states all hold such elections in odd-numbered years. The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also held legislative elections in 2022. As in the U.S. House of Representatives, these elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. census and the 2022 U.S. redistricting. Prior to the election, Republicans controlled 60 legislative chambers, Democrats controlled 37 chambers, and a cross-party coalition controlled the Alaska House of Representatives.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats successfully defended every legislative chamber they had held prior to the election, the first time the president's party accomplished this feat in a midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections. Democrats picked up the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Minnesota Senate, both state legislative chambers in Michigan, and also established a cross-party coalition in the Alaska Senate. Democrats had not controlled the Michigan Senate since 1984, one reason being that although Democrats won the popular several times (2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020), Republicans continued to win more seats due to a more favorable map, which was redrawn by an independent commission in 2018 following a successful ballot measure. As a result of victories in state legislative and gubernatorial elections, Democrats gained government trifectas in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Minnesota. In addition, Republicans lost a trifecta in Arizona, which they held since 2009, while Democrats lost a trifecta in Nevada. Following the election, although Republicans held trifectas in more states, more people lived in Democratic-controlled states than in Republican-controlled states.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Though Republican governor Phil Scott won reelection, Democrats gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of the Vermont General Assembly. Republicans gained supermajorities in the Wisconsin Senate, the North Carolina Senate, the South Carolina House of Representatives, and both chambers of the Florida Legislature. At the same time, the Republican Party fell short of attaining a supermajority in the Wisconsin State Assembly and the North Carolina House of Representatives, meaning that Democratic governors in both states will retain the ability to veto legislation that is passed without Democratic support.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Of the many proposed for 2022, 132 ballot measures were certified in 37 states. In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" that held there was no constitutional right to abortion in the United States and gave individual states the full power to regulate any aspect of abortion, six states had an abortion‑related ballot measure: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. During the August primaries, 59% of Kansas voters rejected their state's Value Them Both Amendment, which would have removed the right to an abortion from the Kansas Constitution. California voters considered Proposition 1 during the general election, which was approved, and amended the Constitution of California to explicitly grant the right to an abortion and contraceptives. All other abortion-related ballot measures also passed.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., voters approved to increase the minimum wage, which was in line with most such measures being approved regardless of state partisanship; Republicans had pushed for ballot measures to be made harder to be certified or approved, and one such attempt (requiring 60 percent for any ballot measure to pass) failed in Arkansas. Among electoral reform ballot measures, voters in Nevada also approved to replace the traditional primary system and first-past-the-post voting with top-five ranked-choice voting statewide, though they will need to confirm the measure in 2024 for it to take effect by 2026, as it would change the state constitution; unlike the other ballot measues, this was opposed by both Democrats and Republicans. In Arizona, voters approved a ballot measure that limited medical debt interest rates. In South Dakota, voters approved to expand Medicaid coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act. In Tennessee, voters voted on Amendment 1, which would amend the Constitution of Tennessee to make it illegal for workplaces to require employees to be members of labor unions as a condition for employment; voters in Tennessee approved for the state to have a right-to-work law, while those in Illinois approved for a state constitutional right to collective bargaining.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In five states, voters were asked to make the possession and use of marijuana legal for people 21 and older. In Maryland and Missouri, the measures were approved, while voters in Arkansas, as well as in North and South Dakota, rejected legalization. In Colorado, voters approved the decriminalization and regulation of certain psychedelic plants and fungi. Of the five states where it was on the ballot, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont abolished slavery in prisons; it did not pass in Louisiana.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Since the beginning of 2022, elections were held for the office of mayor, as well as several other munipal and county-level positions. Major U.S. cities saw incumbent mayors re-elected, including Fort Smith, Arkansas (George McGill); Little Rock, Arkansas (Frank Scott Jr.); Tallahassee, Florida (John E. Dailey); Lexington, Kentucky (Linda Gorton); Reno, Nevada (Hillary Schieve); Newark, New Jersey (Ras Baraka); Charlotte, North Carolina (Vi Lyles), and Raleigh, North Carolina (Mary-Ann Baldwin); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (David Holt); Denton, Texas (Gerard Hudspeth); and Washington, D.C. (Muriel Bowser).


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Open mayoral seats were won in Anaheim, California (Ashleigh Aitken); Chula Vista, California (John McCann); Long Beach, California (Rex Richardson); Los Angeles, California (Karen Bass); Oakland, California (Sheng Thao); and San Jose, California (Matt Mahan); Augusta, Georgia (Garnett Johnson); Louisville, Kentucky (Craig Greenberg); Henderson, Nevada (Michelle Romero), and North Las Vegas, Nevada (Pamela Goynes-Brown); Columbia, Missouri (Barbara Buffaloe); Providence, Rhode Island (Brett Smiley); Austin, Texas (Kirk Watson); Laredo, Texas (Victor Trevino); Lubbock, Texas; (Tray Payne); and Newport News, Virginia (Phillip Jones). Bass succeeded two-term incumbent Eric Garcetti, and in doing so became the first woman and the second Black person (after Tom Bradley) to be elected mayor of Los Angeles.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In San Bernardino, California, city worker Helen Tran was elected to replace incumbent John Valdivia, who was defeated in the blanket primary. In Shreveport, Louisiana, incumbent Adrian Perkins lost re-election in the Louisiana primary, and was succeeded by former city councilor Tom Arceneaux in the runoff. In Boulder City, Nevada, incumbent mayor Kiernan McManus lost re-election in a landslide to state senator Joe Hardy in the primary election. In Norman, Oklahoma, Larry Heikkila defeated one-term incumbent mayor Breea Clark. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, acting mayor Cavalier Johnson won the special election to a full term against Bob Donovan, who resigned in December 2021 to become the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, and became the first African-American elected mayor of Milwaukee.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Several notable Native American tribes are holding elections for tribal executive positions during 2022. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska reelected tribal president Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson to a fifth term; Lynn "Nay" Valbuena was also elected to serve a fifth term as chair of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Terry Rambler won election to a fourth consecutive term as chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Osage Nation principal chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, tribal council chief Beverly Kiohawiton Cook of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Mark Fox of the Three Affiliated Tribes, and Jamie Azure of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, as well as Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Chairperson Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, were all reelected to third terms. Chairman Marshalle Pierite of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma chief Craig Harper, as well as Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation tribal chairman Joseph Rupnik, were all reelected to a second term. Also reelected were Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community president Martin Harvier and Quapaw Nation chairman Joseph Byrd. Bill Sterud was reelected as chair of the Puyallup Tribe; he first joined the Puyallup Tribal Council in 1978.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Brad KillsCrow was elected to his first full term as chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians. Reid D. Milanovich was elected chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, replacing the retiring Jeff Grubbe. Clayton Dumont Jr. won an open seat to become chairman of the Klamath Tribes, Arden L. Kucate was elected governor of the Pueblo of Zuni, and Kimberly Jenkins was elected chair of the Kaw Nation. In the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkmikuk reelected William Nicholas to a fourth term as chief, chief Kirk Francis was elected to serve a sixth term as head of the Penobscot Nation, and tribal representative Rena Newell was elected chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, ousting chief Maggie Dana.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Several tribal leaders were defeated when seeking reelection. Buu Nygren defeated Jonathan Nez to become president of the Navajo Nation; Nygren's running mate, Richelle Montoya, is the first woman elected as Navajo Nation vice president. Lora Ann Chaisson defeated August "Cocoa" Creppel in the election for principal chief of the United Houma Nation. Kasey Velasquez defeated chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatwood to become the second woman elected to lead the White Mountain Apache Tribe. RoseMary LaClair defeated incumbent Nooksack Indian Tribe chairman Roswell Cline Sr. Former Red Lake Band of Chippewa chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain defeated incumbent chairman Darrell Seki Sr. Ryman LeBeau defeated incumbent Harold Fraizer to become chairman-at-large of the Cheyenne River Sioux.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: This table shows the partisan results of president, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2022. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and Senate elections in 2022. The five U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., do not elect members of the Senate, and the territories do not take part in presidential elections; instead, they each elect one of the six non-voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The unicameral Nebraska Legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are elected on a non-partisan basis, and political party affiliation is not listed.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The race for Congress was much closer than expected; control of Congress remained uncertain for several days, and the House remained too close to call for over a week, which was not thought to be likely in a national environment favorable to the Republican Party. Organizations that make election calls projected on November 12 that the Democratic Party retained control of the Senate, while later projecting on November 15–16 that Republicans gained control over the House with a slim majority. Abortion and the economy were major issues, and young and independent voters, which Democrats narrowly won whilst keeping enough of their key voting blocs and could explain their key wins, turned out in record numbers particularly in some key swing states, which were won by Democrats; it is not agreed among experts only to what extent and by how much the youth vote helped Democrats. 2022 is the first midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections in which the president's party did not lose any state legislative chambers or incumbent senators. It was also the first midterm since the 1986 U.S. elections in which either party achieved a net gain of governorships while holding the presidency, which last happened for Republicans in the 1986 U.S. gubernatorial elections, and the first since 1934 in which the Democrats did so under a Democratic president. This also marked the first time since the 1962 U.S. elections that Democrats made a net gain in the Senate while losing House seats.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats lost just 9 seats in the House, which is below the average losses for the president's party since the 1950s, and gained in the Senate, even though the president's party usually lose many seats in the midterm elections; it was the best performance for the president's party in a midterm election in two decades in terms of seat losses, and historically good when considering Biden's underwater approval ratings. In addition, Democrats gained a Senate seat in Pennsylvania where John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz, winning the seat of retiring Republican senator Pat Toomey, while they held their seat in Georgia in a runoff election, after no candidate won a majority of the vote. Many factors have been attributed to the lack of a red wave and better-than-expected performance for Democrats, including the quality of candidates, youth turnout, and some vote splitting in key races. Incumbent president Joe Biden, a Democrat, and incumbent Florida governor Ron DeSantis of the Republican Party, as well as reproductive rights, have been widely considered as the biggest winners, while former president Donald Trump was considered to be the biggest loser by the election results. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic House coalition's fundraising arm, lost his reelection bid after ten years in Congress.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats made gains at the gubernational level. In the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election, Wes Moore, a Democrat, became the state's first African-American governor, while the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election and 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election resulted in Maura Healey and Tina Kotek, both Democrats, becoming the first open lesbian governors in U.S. history. Gretchen Whitmer, the incumbent Democrat, won the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election. On the Republican side, incumbent governors performed well. Greg Abbott won the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election, while Brian Kemp won the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election; in both cases, they defeated the Democratic opponents, Beto O'Rourke and Stacey Abrams, who had lost by narrower margins in 2018. In the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election, DeSantis won in a landside, challenging the state's battleground status; results showed that he performed better than other Republicans among Hispanics, who got mixed results. Both parties elected female governors, resulting in the most female governors in U.S. history. Incumbent Laura Kelly of the Democratic Party narrowly won the 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election, while Sarah Huckabee Sanders of the Republican Party won the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election. Democrats also won the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, an office that was previously held by a term-limited Republican, as Katie Hobbs won over Kari Lake. Despite losses, Republicans flipped a governorship from Democrats by winning the 2022 Nevada gubernatorial election, in which Joe Lombardo defeated the incumbent Steve Sisolak, and in the 2022 Alaska gubernatorial election a Republican governor was reelected to a second term for the first time since 1998.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In state legislative elections, Democrats gained full control of government in Minnesota and made gains in Pennsylvania, where a more neutral, independent redrawn map (like in Michigan) gave them a shot to regain control of the state legislature. In one of the most historic results of the night, Democrats gained a trifecta in Michigan for the first time since 1983. For over a week, control of the state legislatures of Alaska, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania was not determined. In Alaska, where for six years Democrats had a cross-coalition majority in the House with independents and moderate Republicans, a similar majority was established in the Senate. In New Hampshire, where Democrats made gains, the race for the House was so close that a series of recounts and legal challenges have followed, leaving the state of the race uncertain. In Pennsylvania, Republicans retained control of the Senate but the House was too close; by November 16, Democrats regained control of the House for the first time since 2010. Referendums to preserve or expand abortion access won in all six states where they were on the ballot (California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont). Those related to increasing the minimum wage (Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.) and expanding Medicaid coverage (South Dakota) also passed, while those related to cannabis legalization, some of which for medical uses and some for recreational usage, achieved mixed results. Nevada also approved state ranked-choice voting election reform. Those related to the abolition of penal labor in the United States also generally passed at the state level (Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont), with the exception of Louisiana.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Biden described the results as a "strong night" for Democrats, and he urged for cooperation in Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham commented: "It's certainly not a red wave, that's for darn sure. But it is clear that we will take back the House." On November 9, when the results for the House were still uncertain, the Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy launched his bid to succeed long-time House Democrats leader Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In a letter asking for support among Republicans, he wrote: "I trust you know that earning the majority is only the beginning. Now, we will be measured by what we do with our majority. Now the real work begins." On November 17, after Republicans were projected to win back the House, Pelosi announced that she would not seek reelection as speaker.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: On November 30, Hakeem Jeffries was selected by acclamation as the Democratic nominee for the House speakership. Earlier on November 15, McCarthy won an internal Republican caucus poll as their speaker nominee, albeit in a very narrow majority; several members of the Republican caucus have expressed opposition to his speakership, casting doubt on how the 2023 U.S. speaker election, to be held on January 3, will unfold.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Polls both prior to and after the elections found that the status of the economy and inflation was the most important issue for voters, with concern about abortion being relatively low compared to them, and it was widely expected that this would benefit Republicans and potentially produce a red wave election in their favor, which did not happen; Florida and New York were the exception to this national trend. The lack of a red wave election was attributed to, among others, issues that in part favored Democrats, including significant concern over extremism among Republicans and the democratic backsliding in the United States that worsened since Trump won in 2016, abortion rights and the status of abortion in the United States since June 2022 after "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" overturned the long-held precedent since 1972 of "Roe v. Wade" that gave a constitutional right to abortion, and the role of Trump and his imminent announcement of a campaign for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Increasing concerns over climate change and the higher approval of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 compared to the previous climate policy also played a role in it, as did turnout. Whether youth turnout in particular helped to explain the results was also debated.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats performed better than expected in states like New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and performed well in Colorado and New England, while Republicans made gains in Florida and New York. Redistricting and gerrymandering also affected results. Gerrymanders in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Ohio, gave Republicans an advantage in the House, while Democrats won 24 of 30 seats, or 80 percent, in Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon, with 54% of the popular vote across these four states. In New York, where Democrats suffered major losses, a gerrymander had been rejected by the courts, while gerrymanders in Florida and Tennessee gave Republicans more seats by virtue of the redistricted map being much more Republican-leaning. Defensive gerrymanders helped both parties hold competitive seats in various states; Republican gains in New York and Democratic gains in North Carolina and Ohio were made possible because state supreme courts overturned gerrymanders passed by their state legislatures.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: While it is normal to take several days to know the results, including blue shifts and red mirages as Democrats vote by mail more often than Republicans, the fact the race for Congress was competitive, and also closer than expected, resulted in control of the House being uncalled for over a week, with the outcome of several races in western states uncertain; the Senate also remained too close to call. By November 11, control of the Senate remained too close to call but with Democrats slightly favored, as they made a gain in Pennsylvania's open race, where John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz in an upset, while three races remained uncalled, all of which are Democratic-held; races had not yet been called in Arizona and Nevada. Democrats had to win two of these three races to maintain control of the Senate, and had to defend their net gain in the Georgia runoff election in December 2022, a competitive election where polls gave Warnock a small edge but remained within the margin of error and both candidates could win, as some polls came from pollsters without established records. Republican attempts to stop early voting, such as the Saturday after Thankgiving, were blocked by a state court. There was also some concern that Georgia's new state law, which shortened the runoff campaign period, would have negative effects on turnout; research shows that this particularly affects turnout among voters of color.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: By November 12, Democrats had retained the Senate, as the Democratic incumbents in Arizona and Nevada (Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto) were projected to have retained their seat. The winner of the Senate race in Alaska, one of the few states to use ranked-choice voting in the United States, which saw Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski and Republican challenger and Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka as the two remaining potential victors of the race, was not determined until November 24, when Murkowski was projected to have won; Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, won the runoff in Georgia on December 6, allowing Democrats to maintain their narrow but newly increased majority; 2022 became the first time since the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the 1914 U.S. Senate elections in which no Senate incumbents lost reelection. Some gubernatorial races, such as in Arizona and Nevada, were not projected for several days, as they were too close call. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate in Arizona who denied Trump's loss in 2020, refused to concede.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Over two weeks later, results in many races were still unknown. Several tossup or key races were won by Democrats, including upsets in , , and congressional districts, and narrowly missed by 550 votes a further upset for the seat held by Lauren Boebert. On November 10–12, Republicans were favored to regain control of the House with a narrow majority of 3 seats (221–214) according to NBC News, with 218 seats needed for a majority. On November 13, Republicans and Democrats were projected to win 210–200 seats in the House according to "Decision Desk HQ", 211–203 according to the Associated Press, and 211–206 according to ABC News. By November 14, Republicans were projected to possibly have a narrow majority in the House by as little as a single seat. On November 15, the projected seats in favor of Republicans were 217–203 per "Decision Desk HQ", 217–205 per the Associated Press, and 215–207 per ABC News. Later on the same day, "Decision Desk HQ" projected a Republican majority of the House, which was followed on November 16 by NBC News, and by the Associated Press on November 17. While Republicans won the popular vote by about 3 percent, such larger-than-reflected popular vote margin compared to seats was in part due the fact Democrats did not contest several seats, which may have cost them about 1–2 percent in the final popular vote margin; although Republicans would have still won the popular vote, it underscored how close the race for the House was both in terms of the popular vote between each party and the number of seats they won.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Starting in 2012, Democrats suffered losses among the American working class, particularly whites. Since 2016, Republicans made gains among minorities who are working class or Hispanic and Latino Americans; at the same time, Democrats continued to improve among college-educated whites, which helped them win in 2020. In 2022, Republicans made further gains among working-class peoples of color, and also among Hispanic voters, though not to the extent they expected, as Democrats continued to win a majority of their vote. The education divide remained polarized.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: According to exit polls, such as from Edison Research, Democrats won a majority of voters under $30,000 and $30,000–49,999, while Republicans won a majority of voters in the $50,000–99,999 and $100,000–199,999 income brackets, with the bigger gap between the two parties being that of those over $200,000, whom Republicans also won. Compared to 2018, which was a blue wave election and saw higher turnout among Democrats, Republicans made gains among women, older people, suburban voters, and whites without college degrees. Most American voters supported abortion-rights; in the House, Republicans also won about a quarter of voters who said they support legal abortion.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democratic backsliding was a concern among voters. Polls show that many voters feared that Trump and Republicans would lead to the collapse of democracy in the United States. Several news outlets tracked the midterm results of 2020 election deniers, including Al Jazeera, "Axios", the BBC, Bloomberg News, CNN, "The New York Times", and "The Washington Post"; there were hundreds of election deniers candidates among Republicans, and according to one analysis 60 percent of Americans had election deniers on the ballot. In decisive battleground states, several such candidates ran for governor or secretary of state, both of which are positions overseeing elections and certifying their results. As of November 10, of the 199 Republican candidates for the House, Senate, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, 134 or 67 percent were projected to win their races, 52 were projected to lose, and 13 had yet to be called; of those 134, 112 were incumbent members of the House. All but one (Chuck Gray of Wyoming) of the candidates for secretary of state lost in 2022.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: While many election deniers (at least more than 100) ultimately won congressional seats, most of them were incumbents who voted to not certify the 2020 presidential election results but avoided comments after the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack, a majority of those who lost conceded but there remains a wide partisan divide regarding trust of the electoral process; those who made electoral fraud claims central to their campaign, in particular those who were newcomers, underperformed and lost. In general, those Republican candidates who were backed by Trump or were 2020 election deniers underperformed; according to analyses by "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post", they performed 5 points worse than expected, and Trump's intervention, such as in Washington's 3rd congressional district, may have costed Republicans multiple seats. At the same time, some far-right Republican candidates obtained limited success, in which allies of Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene flipped some blue seats.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: In Arizona, Cochise County, a Republican-controlled county, which was won by Lake, is refusing to certify the results and Hobbs' win amid baseless fraud allegations, and is being sued as a result. State elections director Kori Lorick said the machines have been certified, and if they were not certified by the deadline for the statewide canvass on December 5, the county's votes would be excluded; this could have potentially result in a different winner in at least two close races (U.S. House seat and state schools chief) from Republican to Democrat. In Pennsylvania, Luzerne County was also refusing to certify the results after the county board deadlocked 2–2; the one abstention voter later said he would vote to certify at a future meeting, and the deadlock was resolved by November 30. On December 5, results in Arizona were certified.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Many pundits in the media failed to predict the Democratic resilient performance; Simon Rosenberg was one exception. Republican pollsters such as the Trafalgar Group had a notable polling miss, with errors well outside the margin of error in races such as the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Washington. Since 2016 and 2020, the latter of which was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, polling companies attempted to understand the misses in recent years and how to get better. There were also fewer polls in general, and a larger share came from partisan sources.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Polls were relatively good, especially when compared to 2020, though not as good as what "FiveThirtyEight", a polling aggregator website, defines as the Gold Standard (2006–2012). Prior to the elections, it discussed the bias of polls in previous election cycles, which overstated or underestimated both parties, and whether there was now a systematic bias in favor of Democrats since 2016, which was also reflected in 2020, but did not exclude that 2022 could be akin 1998 or 2002 (after "Dobbs") or have a bias in favor of Republicans, as it happened. Their own forecasting model, which gave Republicans 59 and 84 percent of winning the Senate (slight favored) and the House (favored), respectively, assumed the possibility that polls underestimated Republicans; its polls-only version saw the Senate as a tossup. Many pollsters had their own worries, and many feared they would miss Republican overperformances as it happened in 2016 and 2020 in particular.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Some environmental organizations and media described the result as a green wave, saying candidates addressing climate change did better compared to those considered who did not. Among Republicans who won, they did not campaign against climate measures in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Biden specifically thanked young climate voters. This was also reflected at the state and local level, where voters approved several climate-related initiatives.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Democrats performed well in states that could be key to the 2024 U.S. elections, and their better-than-expected performance may have avoided a damaging primary for the incumbent president; their net gain in the Senate could also help them as they face a harder map in the 2024 U.S. Senate elections, with many more seats to defend than Republicans. As some moderate Republicans admitted that the party had an extremist problem and had a moment of reckoning, including criticism of Trump among conservatives on social media and cable news, as well as infighting, many analysts believed that the results set up a potential contest between DeSantis and Trump for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries. Despite losses, Trump called the results a "great evening", though those close to him reported him "livid" and "furious with everyone" for the losses, in particular the Senate open seat in Pennsylvania. About DeSantis, Trump stated that he was ready to reveal what he described as "bad things" about him, claiming to know him "more than anyone else, perhaps more than [his wife]."


title: 2022 United States elections

text: On November 15, the beginning of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign was officially announced. On November 18, attorney general Merrick Garland announced that he appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to run part of the Department of Justice's probe into the January 6 Capitol attack, which could affect his eligibility under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as argued by some legal experts, as well as the FBI investigation into Trump's handling of government documents. Trump's 2024 campaign announcement received wide media coverage and a mixed response from both Democrats and Republicans. Some Democrats warily welcomed the campaign, viewing Trump as beatable, while other Democrats, along with many observers and some Republicans, opposed it, citing the negative effects it could have on U.S. democracy. Some Republicans, consisting mostly of Trump loyalists, welcomed the campaign, while others opposed it, viewing him as a beatable candidate who had lost Republicans the past several election cycles including the 2022 midterms and engaged in conspiracy theories, and also cited his legal troubles.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Voter turnout was relatively high by midterm standards. After the blue wave of 2018, it was the second highest since the 1970 U.S. elections. The trend was further confirmed by turnout among young voters (18–29), which was also the highest (after 2018) since the 1970s, and helped Democrats, even as Republicans turned out in greater numbers; for example, youth and Latino voters turnout in a battleground state like Arizona was historically high. According to the Edison Research National Election Pool, the youth vote for the House was 63–35 in favor of Democrats. Pollster Antonio Arellano commented that young voters were the only age group in which more than 50 percent of voters supported Democrats.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York elected female governors for the first time, and Arkansas and Massachusetts became the first states in which women concurrently served as governor and lieutenant governor. Alabama elected its first female senator, California elected a Latino senator for the first time, and Maryland elected its first African-American governor. Markwayne Mullin became the first Native American to represent Oklahoma in the Senate since Robert Latham Owen retired in 1925. In Florida, Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z elected to the House. Marcy Kaptur's reelection will make her the longest-serving woman in Congress if she serves out her term. Becca Balint became the first female member of Congress from Vermont—the last of the 50 states to elect a woman to Congress—and Summer Lee became the first black woman from Pennsylvania elected to Congress.


title: 2022 United States elections

text: The 2022 election was the first time that LGBTQ candidates appeared on the general election ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. With their respective victories, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Maura Healey of Massachusetts became the first openly lesbian state governors. James Roesener, elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, became the first transgender man to win a state legislative seat.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The Lord of the Rings is a series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled "" (2001), "" (2002), and "" (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films, the series is an international venture between New Zealand and the United States. The films feature an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Sean Bean.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, to ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. The Fellowship eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum. Meanwhile, Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, along with the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, Merry, Pippin, and the wizard Gandalf, unite to save the Free Peoples of Middle-earth from the forces of Sauron and rally them in the War of the Ring to aid Frodo by distracting Sauron's attention.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The three films were shot simultaneously in Jackson's native New Zealand from 11 October 1999 until 22 December 2000, with pick-up shots done from 2001 to 2003. It was one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with a budget of $281 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The first film in the series premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 10 December 2001; the second film premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on 5 December 2002; the third film premiered at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 1 December 2003. An extended edition of each film was released on home video a year after its release in cinemas.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "The Lord of the Rings" is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film series ever made. It was a major financial success and is among the highest-grossing film series of all time with $2.991 billion in worldwide receipts. All three films received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences, who lauded the acting, direction, writing, production values, score, ambition, emotional depth, groundbreaking special effects and faithfulness to the source material. The series received numerous accolades, winning 17 Academy Awards out of 30 total nominations, including Best Picture for "The Return of the King". In 2021, "The Fellowship of the Ring" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Jackson began abstract discussions on casting during the development of the scripts with Miramax. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens compiled a casting wishlist, which included Cate Blanchett for Galadriel and Ian Holm for Bilbo. Wondering whether Patrick Stewart would be right for the part of Gandalf, Philippa Boyens drew a tape of him performing opposite Ian McKellen, only to suggest the latter to Jackson. McKellen became Jackson's first choice for Gandalf. Christopher Lee sent Jackson a photograph of him in a wizard's costume, wanting to play Gandalf, but Jackson decided Lee would instead be better as Saruman.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Miramax wanted a recognisable name for Gandalf, and suggested Max von Sydow or Paul Scofield and, wanting an American star, even mentioned Morgan Freeman. When New Line took over, they suggested Christopher Plummer or Sean Connery for the part (both declined), and put a veto against Richard Harris when his name came up. When von Sydow inquired for the part later, his agent told him they were looking for an English actor.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: While casting, Jackson looked for backup options for the various parts, including Lucy Lawless and Nicole Kidman for Galadriel; Anthony Hopkins or Sylvester McCoy (eventually cast as Radagast in "The Hobbit" trilogy) for Bilbo; Paul Scofield, Jeremy Irons, Malcolm McDowell or Tim Curry for Saruman. For Gandalf, they looked into Tom Baker, Tom Wilkinson, Sam Neill, Bernard Hill (who was instead cast as Théoden) and Peter O'Toole, and into several older actors who auditioned for other parts, such as Patrick McGoohan and Anthony Hopkins.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Miramax and Jackson discussed Sir Daniel Day-Lewis for Aragorn, starting "fanciful internet speculation" that Day-Lewis was approached for the part numerous times, although Jackson eventually inquired about him. Jackson cast Stuart Townsend, whom the studio deemed too young. After shooting began, Jackson agreed and decided to recast the role. They approached Viggo Mortensen, but also spoke to Russell Crowe (who auditioned for Boromir previously), as a backup choice.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Patrick McGoohan, their first choice for Denethor, proved "quite grumpy" when they met, and they instead looked into Donald Sutherland and John Rhys-Davies, and ultimately cast John Noble. Davies was recast as Gimli, instead of Billy Connolly (later cast as Dáin in ""), Robert Trebor and Timothy Spall. In conversations with Miramax, Liam Neeson's name came up for Boromir, but he declined. New Line suggested Nicolas Cage, but the filmmakers declined and cast Sean Bean.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The following are the cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in the extended version of the films.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Previous attempts to film Tolkien's works were made by William Snyder, Peter Shaffer and John Boorman. These attempts resulted in a couple of unproduced scripts, concept art and an animated short. Other filmmakers and producers to have had an interest in adapting Tolkien are said to include Walt Disney, Al Brodax, Forrest Ackerman, Denis O'Dell (who considered Richard Lester to direct, but instead approached David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Michelangelo Antonioni) and George Lucas. The rights to adapt Tolkien's works passed through the hands of several studios, having been briefly leased to Rembrandt Films before being sold perpetually to United Artists. In 1976, UA passed the rights to "The Lord of the Rings" (and a part of the rights to "The Hobbit") to Fantasy Films.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: In 1977, an animated adaptation of "The Hobbit" was produced as a TV special by Rankin and Bass, and in 1978 Ralph Bakshi made an animated feature of the first half of "The Lord of the Rings". While profitable, the film did not make enough money to automatically warrant the sequel which would close the story, and an argument with producer Saul Zaentz led Bakshi to abandon the project. Rankin/Bass then followed in 1980 with an animated TV adaptation of "The Return of the King". Several other Tolkienesque fantasy films were produced at the time, including Jim Henson and Frank Oz's "The Dark Crystal" and Lucas's "Willow".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: At the time of the release of Bakshi's film, a teenaged Peter Jackson had not read the book, but "heard the name", and went to see the film: "I liked the early part—it had some quaint sequences in Hobbiton, a creepy encounter with the Black Rider on the road, and a few quite good battle scenes—but then, about half way through, the storytelling became very disjointed and disorientating and I really didn't understand what was going on. However, what it did do was to make me want to read the book—if only to find out what happened!" Jackson bought a tie-in paperback edition. He later read "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion", and listened to the 1981 BBC radio adaptation. Assuming someone would one day adapt it to a live-action film, Jackson read up on some previous attempts to bring the piece to the screen. He had not watched the Rankin and Bass TV specials.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: In 1995, while completing post-production on "The Frighteners", Jackson and Fran Walsh discussed making an original fantasy film, but could not think of a scenario that was not Tolkien-esque, and eventually decided to look up the film rights. They went to Harvey Weinstein from Miramax, who got the rights from Saul Zaentz. Jackson knew it would take multiple films to do Tolkien justice, but initially pitched a single trilogy: one film based on "The Hobbit" and, if that would prove successful, two "Lord of the Rings" films shot back-to-back. Jackson began rereading "The Hobbit", looking at illustrations and commissioning concept art from the book, but the rights eventually proved unattainable, having been split between Zaentz and United Artists. Weinstein tried to buy the studio's share of the rights, but was unsuccessful.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: With "The Hobbit" postponed for a later prequel, Jackson proceeded with making two or more "Lord of the Rings" films: "We pitched the idea of three films and Miramax didn't really want to take that risk, but we agreed on two." He began writing the scripts with Walsh and Stephen Sinclair, storyboarding with Christian Rivers and discussing casting ideas with the Weinsteins. Meanwhile, Weta Digital began software development for the digital effects required, and WETA Workshop were producing props and concept art. Sinclair later dropped out of the project, but Jackson felt that some of his contributions survived into the finished scripts, particularly the middle film, "The Two Towers", for which he is credited.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: As the scripts took shape, it became clear that the budget required would exceed Miramax's capabilities. The Weinsteins suggested cutting the project to one film. Jackson inquired whether it could be around four hours in duration, but Miramax insisted on two hours, suggesting major cuts to the story, which Jackson refused. Harvey Weinstein threatened to replace Jackson with screenwriter Hossein Amini and directors John Madden or Quentin Tarantino. Jackson believed this was an empty threat to get him to concede to making a one-film version himself.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Harvey Weinstein eventually relented to putting the project on a turnaround, but the onerous conditions were meant to prevent the project from being taken up by another studio. Jackson got an audience with New Line CEO Robert Shaye, who accepted the project, but requested that it be expanded into a trilogy. New Line had many promising reasons that the trilogy would be successful which led them to sign on. Final Cut rights were shared contractually between Jackson and Bob Shaye, but there was never any interference in Jackson's cut. Initially, each film had a production budget of $60 million, however New Line accepted Jackson's request of an increased budget after a 26-minute preview of "The Fellowship of the Ring" was presented at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Jackson began storyboarding and screenwriting the series with Christian Rivers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in 1997 and assigned his crew to begin designing Middle-earth at the same time. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens did not write each film to correspond exactly to its respective book, opting instead to write a three-part adaptation with some sequences missing, some sequences created from scratch, and some sequences moved from one area to another regardless of its placement in the books. To allow the story to be clearer for viewers, Jackson takes a more chronological approach to the story than Tolkien's complex interlacing of storylines. During shooting, the screenplays continued to evolve, in part due to contributions from cast members looking to further explore their characters.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Earlier versions of the script included additional characters like Fatty Bolger, Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir, Erkenbrand, Imrahil and Forlong. At one point, Jackson even considered reintroducing Tom Bombadil in a cameo. Gimli was going to swear throughout the films, and Arwen would join the Fellowship in Rohan and share a nude scene with Aragorn in the pools of the Glittering Caves.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Jackson hired long-time collaborator Richard Taylor to lead Weta Workshop on five major design elements: armour, weapons, prosthetic makeup, creatures and miniatures. At New Line's request, animation supervisor Jim Rygiel replaced Weta Digital's Mark Stetson. In November 1997, famed Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined the project; most of the imagery in the films is based on their various illustrations, but Jackson also relied on the work of Ted Nasmith, who later had to turn down an offer to join Alan and John. Jackson wanted realistic designs in the style of historical epics rather than fantasy films, citing "Braveheart" as an inspiration:


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "It might be clearer if I described it as an historical film. Something very different to "Dark Crystal" or "Labyrinth". Imagine something like "Braveheart", but with a little of the visual magic of "Legend". [...] It should have the historical authority of "Braveheart", rather than the meaningless fantasy mumbo-jumbo of "Willow".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Production designer Grant Major was charged with the task of converting Lee and Howe's designs into architecture, creating models of the sets, while Dan Hennah worked as art director, scouting locations and organizing the building of sets. Ngila Dickson collaborated with Richard Taylor on producing costumes, while Peter King and Peter Owen designed makeup and hair. Most of these crew members (and others) returned to work on "The Hobbit".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Jackson and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie considered shooting in large format like 65 mm film and/or to master the films at 4K, but both were cost-prohibitive and couldn't be done on New Zealand soil. They decided to shoot on fine-grain Super 35 mm film and subject the films to rigorous digital grading.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Principal photography for all three films was conducted concurrently in many locations within New Zealand's conservation areas and national parks. Filming took place between 11 October 1999 and 22 December 2000. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2004. The series was shot at over 150 different locations, with seven different units shooting, as well as soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown. Along with Jackson directing the whole production, other unit directors included John Mahaffie, Geoff Murphy, Fran Walsh, Barrie M. Osborne, Rick Porras and any other assistant director, producer, or writer available. Miniature Photography took place throughout the entire period, amounting to over 1,000 shooting days.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Weta Digital developed new technologies to allow for the groundbreaking digital effects required for the trilogy, including the development of the MASSIVE software to generate intelligent crowds for battle scenes, and advancing the art of motion capture, which was used on bipedal creatures like the Cave Troll or Gollum. With Jackson's future films, motion-capture technology came to be pushed so far that it became referred to as "digital makeup", although it was later clarified that during "The Lord of the Rings" period, it was still fairly reliant on the CG animators.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Each film had the benefit of a full year of post-production time before its respective December release, often finishing in October–November, with the crew immediately going to work on the next film. Jackson originally wanted to edit all three films with Jamie Selkirk, but this proved too much work. The next idea was to have John Gilbert, Michael Horton and Selkirk, respectively, editing the three films simultaneously, but after a month that proved too difficult for Jackson, and the films were edited in consecutive years, although Selkirk continued to act as "Supervising Editor" on the first two entries. Daily rushes would often last up to four hours, and by the time "The Fellowship of the Ring" had been released, assembly cuts of the other two films (4 hours each) were already prepared. In total, 1,828 km (six million feet) of film was edited down to the 11 hours and 26 minutes (686 minutes) of extended running time.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Howard Shore composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced the trilogy's music. Shore visited the set in 1999, and composed a version of the Shire theme and Frodo's Theme before Jackson began shooting. In August 2000 he visited the set again, and watched the assembly cuts of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Return of the King". In the music, Shore included many (85 to 110) leitmotifs to represent various characters, cultures and places—the largest catalogue of leitmotifs in the history of cinema, surpassing, for comparison, that of the entire "Star Wars" film series. For example, there are multiple leitmotifs just for the hobbits and the Shire. Although the first film had some of its score recorded in Wellington, virtually all of the trilogy's score was recorded in Watford Town Hall and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Jackson planned to advise the score for six weeks each year in London, though for "The Two Towers" he stayed for twelve.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The score is primarily played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, ranging from 93 to 120 players throughout the recording. London Voices, the London Oratory School Schola boy choir, and many artists such as Ben Del Maestro, Sheila Chandra, Enya, Renée Fleming, James Galway, Annie Lennox and Emilíana Torrini contributed. Even actors Billy Boyd, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto (extended cuts only for the latter two) and Peter Jackson (for a single gong sound in the second film) contributed to the score. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens served as librettists, writing lyrics to various music and songs, which David Salo translated into Tolkien's languages. The third film's end song, "Into the West", was a tribute to a young filmmaker Jackson and Walsh befriended named Cameron Duncan, who died of cancer in 2003.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Shore composed a main theme for the Fellowship rather than many different character themes, and its strength and weaknesses in volume are depicted at different points in the series. On top of that, individual themes were composed to represent different cultures. Infamously, the amount of music Shore had to write every day for the third film increased dramatically to around seven minutes. The music for the series has been voted best movie soundtrack of all time for the six years running, passing "Schindler's List" (1993), "Gladiator" (2000), "Star Wars" (1977) and "Out of Africa" (1985), respectively.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The trilogy's online promotional trailer was first released on 27 April 2000, and set a new record for download hits, registering 1.7 million hits in the first 24 hours of its release. The trailer used a selection from the soundtrack for "Braveheart" and "The Shawshank Redemption" among other cuts. In 2001, 24 minutes of footage from the series, primarily the Moria sequence, was shown at the 54th Cannes Film Festival, and was very well received. The showing also included an area designed to look like Middle-earth.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "" was released on 19 December 2001. It grossed $47.2 million in its U.S. opening weekend and made over $897 million worldwide. A preview of "" was inserted just before the end credits near the end of the film's theatrical run. A promotional trailer was later released, containing music re-scored from the film "Requiem for a Dream". "The Two Towers" was released 18 December 2002. It grossed $62 million in its first U.S. weekend and out-grossed its predecessor with over $947 million worldwide. The promotional trailer for "" was debuted exclusively before the New Line Cinema film "Secondhand Lions" on 23 September 2003. Released 17 December 2003, its first U.S. weekend gross was $72.6 million, and became the second film, after "Titanic" (1997), to gross over $1 billion worldwide.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy received widespread acclaim and is ranked among the greatest film trilogies ever made. Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal", while Todd McCarthy of "Variety" described the films as "one of the most ambitious and phenomenally successful dream projects of all time". "The Fellowship of the Ring" was voted the greatest fantasy movie of all time in a reader's poll conducted by American magazine "Wired" in 2012, while "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" placed fourth and third respectively. "The Independent" ranked "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy at No. 2 on its list of "10 greatest movie trilogies of all time". "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is ranked at No. 2 in "/Film"'s list of "The 15 Greatest Trilogies Of All Time", while "Empire" ranked it at No. 1 in its list of "The 33 Greatest Movie Trilogies".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The series appears in the , "Time"s All-Time 100 Movies, and James Berardinelli's Top 100. In 2007, "USA Today" named the series as the most important films of the past 25 years. "Entertainment Weekly" put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Bringing a cherished book to the big screen? No sweat. Peter Jackson's trilogy — or, as we like to call it, our preciousssss — exerted its irresistible pull, on advanced Elvish speakers and neophytes alike." "Paste" named it one of the 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009), ranking it at No. 4.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: In another "Time" magazine list, the series ranks second in "Best Movies of the Decade". In addition, six characters and their respective actors made the list of 'The 100 Greatest Movie Characters', also compiled by "Empire", with Viggo Mortensen's portrayal of Aragorn ranking No. 15, Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf ranking No. 30, Ian Holm's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins (shared with Martin Freeman for his portrayal of the same character in "The Hobbit" films) ranking No. 61, Andy Serkis' portrayal of Gollum ranking No. 66, Sean Astin's portrayal of Samwise Gamgee ranking No. 77, and Orlando Bloom's portrayal of Legolas ranking No. 94.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The series drew acclaim from within the industry, including from the film directors Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and George Lucas. John Boorman, who once wrote a script for a "Lord of the Rings" film, said he was happy his own version was unmade as Jackson's film trilogy was "of such scope and magnitude that it can only be compared to the building of the great Gothic cathedrals." Forrest J. Ackerman, who once presented a film treatment to Tolkien, and appeared on Jackson's "Bad Taste" said his pitch "could never have been given the grand treatment that Peter Jackson afforded it." Arthur Rankin said Jackson was making "marvellous films."


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: However, some filmmakers were more critical. Heinz Edelmann, who pitched the idea of an animated feature when United Artists considered shooting the films with the Beatles, thought it was "badly directed." Ralph Bakshi, who made an animated film based on the first half of the trilogy, didn't watch the films, but was told that Jackson's film was derivative of his. Ahead of the films' release, he said he did not "understand it" but that he does "wish it to be a good movie." Later, he begruged Saul Zaentz for not notifying him of the live-action film, and said that Jackson had his film to study and therefore had "a little easier time than I did." Afterwards, he grumbled that Jackson "didn't understand" Tolkien and created "special effects garbage" to sell toys, as well as being derivative of his own film. Bakshi further blamed Jackson for not acknowledging the influence that the animated film had on him, saying (falsely) that he denied having seen Bakshi's film at all until being forced to mention him, at which point (according to Bakshi) he mentioned Bakshi's influence "only once" as "PR bolony." However, he did praise Jackson's special effects and, in 2015, even apologized for some of his remarks. Bakshi's animator Mike Ploog and writer Peter Beagle both praised the live-action film.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, both records for any movie trilogy. "The Fellowship of the Ring" earned 13 nominations, the most of any film at the 74th Academy Awards, winning four; "The Two Towers" won two awards from six nominations at the 75th Academy Awards; "The Return of the King" won in every category in which it was nominated at the 76th Academy Awards, setting the current Oscar record for the highest clean sweep, and its 11 Academy Awards wins ties the record held by "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Titanic" (1997). "The Return of the King" also became only the second sequel to win the Oscar for Best Picture after "The Godfather Part II" (1974).


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Additionally, members of the production crew won the Academy Award for Technical Achievement for the rendering of skin textures on creatures on "The Return of the King", and Stephen Regelous won the Academy Award for Scientific and Engineering Award for the design and development of MASSIVE, "the autonomous agent animation system used for the battle sequences in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy."


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Each film in the series won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the MTV Movie Award for Movie of the Year, and the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film. The first and third films also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film. The New York Film Critics Circle awarded "The Return of the King" its Best Picture Award at the 2003 Awards Ceremony, hosted by Andrew Johnston, chair of the organization at that time, who called it "a masterful piece of filmmaking."


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Commentators have compared Jackson's film trilogy with Tolkien's written work, remarking that while both have been extremely successful commercially, they differ in many respects. Critics have admired Jackson's ability to film the long and complex work at all; the beauty of the cinematography, sets and costumes; and the epic scale of his version of Tolkien's story. They have however found the characters and the story greatly weakened by Jackson's emphasis on action and violence at the expense of psychological depth; the loss of Tolkien's emphasis on free will and individual responsibility; and the replacement of Frodo's inner journey by an American monomyth with Aragorn as the hero.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: As for whether the film trilogy is faithful to the novel, opinions range from Verlyn Flieger's feeling that a film adaptation is not even worth attempting, Wayne G. Hammond's opinion that the film sacrifices the book's richness of characterization and narrative for violence, thrills and cheap humour, or Christopher Tolkien's view that Jackson's interpretation is unacceptable, to granting, with Jackson and Boyens, that the film version is inevitably different. From that standpoint, critics such as Brian Rosebury and Tom Shippey have described the films as a partial success, giving some of the feeling and capturing some of the key themes of the novel. Yvette Kisor considers that Jackson was unfaithful to many of Tolkien's details, but succeeded in achieving something of the same impact and feelings of providence, eucatastrophe and interconnectedness. Dimitra Fimi suggests that Jackson was continuing Tolkien's tradition of adapting folklore, incorporating both the fans' views on that folklore and cinematic traditions such as the zombie in the film trilogy to produce its own modern folklore.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The first two films were released on two-disc standard edition DVDs containing previews of the following film. The success of the theatrical cuts brought about four-disc extended editions, with new editing, added special effects and music. Jackson came up with the idea of an extended cut for LaserDisc and DVD formats while in preproduction. He could insert some of the violence that he thought he would have to trim to get a PG-13 rating for the theatre, and he could tailor the pacing to the demands of the small screen, which he said were "completely different". He observed that the extended cuts will be "ultimately seen as the more definitive versions of the films".


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The extended cuts of the films and the supplemental special features (labelled "appendices" in homage to the books) were spread over two discs each, and a limited collector's edition was also released featuring sculpted bookends. "The Fellowship of the Ring" was released on 12 November 2002, containing 30 minutes of extra footage. "The Two Towers", released on 18 November 2003, contains 46 minutes of extra footage. "The Return of the King" was released on 14 December 2004, with 52 minutes more footage. The extended cuts have also played at cinemas, most notably the first two for a 16 December 2003 marathon screening (dubbed "Trilogy Tuesday") culminating in a screening of the third film. In 2006, both versions of each film were released together in a limited edition, which includes a new feature-length documentary for each film (but not the extras from the previous releases).


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Warner Bros. released the trilogy's theatrical versions on Blu-ray in a boxed set on 6 April 2010. An extended edition Blu-ray box set was released on 28 June 2011. Each film's extended Blu-ray version is identical to the extended DVD version, including the appendices. In 2014, Blu-ray steelbook editions of the five-disc extended editions were released. The first, "The Fellowship of the Ring", was released on 24 March 2014. The discs are identical to those found in the previous five-disc Blu-ray set. The Blu-ray releases were criticized for colour timing issues which degraded the look of the films.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray in 2020, featuring both the theatrical and extended editions of the films. The films, along with those of "The Hobbit" trilogy, were remastered to give all six films a more consistent colour treatment. Jackson explained that visual effects shots were improved for this release by and [painting] out any imperfections," but that they had not been or An audio remastering was made as well, with the films receiving a new Dolby Atmos mix. A 31-disc collector's set including both versions of all six films in 4K and Blu-ray formats, was released in 2021 for the 20-year anniversary of the first film; this, however, does not include the appendices.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The release of the films saw a surge of interest in "The Lord of the Rings" and Tolkien's other works, vastly increasing his impact on popular culture. The success of the films spawned numerous video games and many other kinds of merchandise.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: From 2012 to 2014 Peter Jackson and his studio Wingnut Films made "The Hobbit" trilogy consisting of the films "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" and "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies". The trilogy works as a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" films.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: On 31 May 2020, through his YouTube channel, actor Josh Gad aired a virtual cast reunion via Zoom as the fourth episode of the web series "Reunited Apart", a charity fundraising effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, with "The Lord of the Rings" reunion supporting Share Our Strength's campaign called "No Kid Hungry". A large part of the original cast participated, including Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Bernard Hill, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban and Elijah Wood. The director Peter Jackson, screenwriter Philippa Boyens and composer Howard Shore were present. On 2 June 2020, Josh Gad announced that the charity had raised over $100,000.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: As a result of the series' success, Peter Jackson has become a major figure in the film industry in the mould of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, in the process befriending some industry heavyweights like Bryan Singer and Frank Darabont. Jackson has since founded his own film production company, Wingnut Films, as well as Wingnut Interactive, a video game company. He was also finally given a chance to remake "King Kong" in 2005. The film was a critical and box office success, although not as successful as "The Lord of the Rings" series. Jackson has been called a "favourite son" of New Zealand. In 2004, Howard Shore toured with "The Lord of the Rings Symphony", playing two hours of the score. Along with the "Harry Potter" films, the series has renewed interest in the fantasy film genre. Tourism in New Zealand is up, possibly due to its exposure in the series, with the country's tourism industry waking up to an audience's familiarity.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: In 2002 the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington created a travelling exhibition of the film trilogy, . It visited cities around the world including Boston, London, Sydney, Singapore and Houston.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: "The Lord of the Rings" left a legacy of court cases over profits from the trilogy. Sixteen cast members (Noel Appleby, Jed Brophy, Mark Ferguson, Ray Henwood, Bruce Hopkins, William Johnson, Nathaniel Lees, Sarah McLeod, Ian Mune, Paul Norell, Craig Parker, Robert Pollock, Martyn Sanderson, Peter Tait and Stephen Ure) sued over the lack of revenue from merchandise bearing their appearance. The case was resolved out of court in 2008. The settlement came too late for Appleby, who died of cancer in 2007. Saul Zaentz also filed a lawsuit in 2004 claiming he had not been paid all of his royalties.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: The next year, Jackson himself sued the studio over profits from the first film, slowing development of "The Hobbit" prequels until late 2007. The Tolkien Trust filed a lawsuit in February 2008, for violating Tolkien's original deal over the rights that they would earn 7.5% of the gross from any films based on his works. The Trust sought compensation of $150 million. A judge denied them this option, but allowed them to win compensation from the act of the studio ignoring the contract itself. On 8 September 2009, the dispute was settled.


title: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

text: Numerous video games were released to supplement the film series. They are "", "", "", , "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Lego The Lord of the Rings", "Guardians of Middle-earth", "", and "".


title: Britney Spears

text: Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age fifteen. Her first two studio albums, "...Baby One More Time" (1999) and "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time and made Spears the best-selling teenage artist of all time. With first-week sales of over 1.3 million copies, "Oops!... I Did It Again" held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for fifteen years. Spears adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums "Britney" (2001) and "In the Zone" (2003), and starred in the 2002 film "Crossroads".