10 Blockbuster Films You Won't Believe Are Turning 20 Years Old
1. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Well, any movie that surpassed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' monstrous box office earning was always going to hit the number one spot, and the second Lord of the Rings was the highest-grossing movie of the year with an eye-watering $936 million!
The epic fantasy adventure directed by Peter Jackson ran in parallel with Harry Potter, being both the second instalment and being based on a fantasy book series, and both movies dominated the silver screen in 2002.
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom and Andy Serkis, The Two Towers carried on where The Fellowship of the Ring left off, intercutting three storylines as part of what's considered to be one of the greatest trilogies ever made. The movie wasn't just a commercial success, being hailed as a turning point in the fantasy genre for, well, pretty much everything - but not least the use of CGI for Serkis' Gollum, even winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects!
The Two Towers smashed records upon its release, becoming the highest international opening weekend with $99.4 million, and £189.9 million worldwide - also the highest ever at that time. The movie set opening day and opening weekend records in a multitude of countries around the globe. Due to subsequent reissues, The Two Towers has now grossed over $947 million, almost 20 years later - reaching that milestone on December 5th.
As you can probably surmise from the above, Two Towers has held up incredibly well in all categories and, 20 years on, is still an absolutely classic piece of cinema.