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The Hobbit fails to impress at the Oscars

The third and final Hobbit film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, has been nominated for just one category in the 87th Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing. This falls short of Jackson’s previous films, including The Return of the King which received 11 Oscars.

The poor showing of The Battle of the Five Armies may indicate that there is a level of “franchise fatigue” with Jackson’s film or, of course, that the Academy regard the film less favourably. This is how the six films compare:

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – 13 nominations, 4 wins (second-highest number of nominations ever)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – 6 nominations, 2 wins
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 11 nominations, 11 wins (joint highest number of wins ever – shared with Ben-Hur and Titanic)
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 4 nominations, 1 win
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – 3 nominations, 0 wins
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – 1 nomination

In particular, there are a number of categories that Sir Peter Jackson’s films have frequently been nominated for:

  • Best Visual Effects – 5 nominations, 3 wins
  • Best Art Direction/Best Production Design – 4 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Sound Mixing – 4 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Picture – 3 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Film Editing – 3 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Makeup/Best Makeup and Hairstyling – 3 nominations, 2 wins
  • Best Director – 2 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Adapted Screenplay – 2 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Original Score – 2 nominations, 2 wins
  • Best Original Song – 2 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Costume Design – 2 nominations, 1 win
  • Best Sound Editing – 2 nominations, 1 win

Let us know what you think about the Oscar nominations by leaving a comment below.

About the Author: The Tolkien Society
The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and worldwide membership organisation devoted to promoting research into, and educating the public in, the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Society organises regular events (such as Oxonmoot and Tolkien Reading Day), publishes regular books and journal (such as Amon Hen and Mallorn), and is working towards a permanent home to Tolkien in the UK.