<P> The theatrical Blu - ray version of The Lord of the Rings was released in the United States in April 2010 . The individual Blu - ray disc of The Two Towers was released in September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, except there was no digital copy . </P> <P> The extended editions for Blu - ray were released in the U.S. and Canada in June 2011 . This version has a runtime of 235 minutes . </P> <P> The Two Towers opened in theaters on 18 December 2002 . It made $64.2 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada . The movie went on to gross $342,551,365 in North America and $583,495,746 internationally for a worldwide total of $926,047,111 against a budget of $94 million . It was the highest - grossing film of 2002 worldwide . Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 57 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run . </P> <P> The film holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on the aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 249 reviews, with an average score of 8.5 / 10 . The site's main consensus reads, "The Two Towers balances spectacular action with emotional storytelling, leaving audiences both wholly satisfied and eager for the final chapter". The films holds a Metacritic score of 88 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "Universal Acclaim". The Battle of Helm's Deep has been named as one of the greatest screen battles of all time, while Gollum was named as the third favorite computer - generated film character by Entertainment Weekly in 2007 . </P>

Lord of the rings the two towers budget