Major success came in 2001 with his score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The news that Shore would score the trilogy surprised some, since he was primarily associated with dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale.
However, the score was hugely successful and won Shore his first Oscar, as well as a Grammy Award, and garnered Shore nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
The music editor on the trilogy was Suzana Peric.
 An excerpt from The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm was used in a teaser for 2013's Superman film, Man of Steel.

The following year, Shore composed the scores to Panic Room, Gangs of New York (replacing Elmer Bernstein), and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy. (
The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.)
Initially, Shore's score for The Two Towers was going to be deemed ineligible for submission to the Academy, due to a new rule that disallowed the submission of scores which contained themes from previous work.
However, the implementation of this rule change was subsequently postponed, meaning the score remained eligible.
Ultimately, The Two Towers score did not receive an Academy Award nomination; Shore did, however, receive a BAFTA nomination for Gangs of New York.

In 2003, he composed the score for the final film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The film was the most successful film in the trilogy and the most successful of the year.
Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as a third for Best Original Song for "Into the West", which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox.
Shore also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy (the fourth for Best Song), and was nominated for a third BAFTA.
The scores of The Lord of the Rings, performed primarily by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, became one of the most successful film scores ever written and the biggest success in Shore's career.
The score has been repeatedly voted to be the best film score, and the review site Filmtracks named Shore's score "arguably the most respected and impressive trilogy of music of all time: Howard Shore's massive work for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings."

In 2004, Shore again collaborated with Martin Scorsese, scoring his epic film The Aviator, this time with the Brussels Philharmonic.
He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the third composer to have won consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category.
He also received his sixth Grammy nomination, and his fifth BAFTA nomination.

He collaborated again with David Cronenberg in 2005 to score A History of Violence, starring Viggo Mortensen.
The film was a success and received two Oscar nominations.
In 2006, he collaborated for the fourth time with Martin Scorsese, this time to score The Departed.
The film was highly successful and won four Oscars, including a long-awaited win for Scorsese, and Best Picture.

Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for King Kong, he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on his and the filmmakers' parts.
This was a mutual agreement between himself and Peter Jackson.
Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of the film as the conductor of the orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner's score to the original 1933 version of the film.
Major success came in 2001 with his score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The news that Shore would score the trilogy surprised some, since he was primarily associated with dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale. However, the score was hugely successful and won Shore his first Oscar, as well as a Grammy Award, and garnered Shore nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. The music editor on the trilogy was Suzana Peric.  An excerpt from The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm was used in a teaser for 2013's Superman film, Man of Steel. 
The following year, Shore composed the scores to Panic Room, Gangs of New York (replacing Elmer Bernstein), and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy. (The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.) Initially, Shore's score for The Two Towers was going to be deemed ineligible for submission to the Academy, due to a new rule that disallowed the submission of scores which contained themes from previous work. However, the implementation of this rule change was subsequently postponed, meaning the score remained eligible. Ultimately, The Two Towers score did not receive an Academy Award nomination; Shore did, however, receive a BAFTA nomination for Gangs of New York.
In 2003, he composed the score for the final film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The film was the most successful film in the trilogy and the most successful of the year. Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as a third for Best Original Song for "Into the West", which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. Shore also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy (the fourth for Best Song), and was nominated for a third BAFTA. The scores of The Lord of the Rings, performed primarily by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, became one of the most successful film scores ever written and the biggest success in Shore's career. The score has been repeatedly voted to be the best film score, and the review site Filmtracks named Shore's score "arguably the most respected and impressive trilogy of music of all time: Howard Shore's massive work for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings."
In 2004, Shore again collaborated with Martin Scorsese, scoring his epic film The Aviator, this time with the Brussels Philharmonic. He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the third composer to have won consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category. He also received his sixth Grammy nomination, and his fifth BAFTA nomination.
He collaborated again with David Cronenberg in 2005 to score A History of Violence, starring Viggo Mortensen. The film was a success and received two Oscar nominations. In 2006, he collaborated for the fourth time with Martin Scorsese, this time to score The Departed. The film was highly successful and won four Oscars, including a long-awaited win for Scorsese, and Best Picture.
Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for King Kong, he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on his and the filmmakers' parts. This was a mutual agreement between himself and Peter Jackson. Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of the film as the conductor of the orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner's score to the original 1933 version of the film.
Howard Shore