HUNDREDS of pupils from Highworth's Warneford School are to be the first people in Swindon to watch the new Lord of the Rings movie.

The Return of the King, the third instalment of the hugely successful trilogy based on the Lord of the Rings book by JRR Tolkien, goes on general release at cinemas today.

Cineworld in Greenbridge is planning to show it no fewer than 19 times a day, with the first screening at 11am and the last ending at nearly 3am tomorrow.

Nearly 500 Highworth Warneford pupils from years nine, 10 and 11 are being taken in 10 coaches to the first screenings as part of their end-of-term Christmas celebrations.

Headteacher John Saunders said: "We always have special activities at the end of the Christmas term and for the past couple of years we have taken the pupils to the first two parts of the Lord of the Rings. This is part three, and we are expecting the majority of them to go 13 to 16-year-olds."

Mr Saunders said the day out to the movies was always popular, and even though the Return of the King is more than three hours long he was confident the pupils would have no problem keeping their concentration.

"It's full of action and special effects so I'm sure it will hold their attention," he said.

Many of the tickets for the day's first screenings have been booked in advance, and Cineworld, which has acquired an unprecedented seven prints of the film so it can show it in more theatres, predicted it was going to be one of its biggest draws ever.

Cineworld manager Paul Bezzant said: "Demand for tickets has been pretty constant, and everyone's starting to realise they will have to book tickets. Return of the King is even bigger than last year's Two Towers film, which filled every performance.

"This is the best thing since the original Star Wars trilogy and everyone knows what to expect from the first two parts.

"Without a doubt it will be one of the biggest films in history."

The Lord of the Rings is enjoying a rise in popularity since the first instalment, The Fellowship of the Ring, opened in December 2001. On Saturday the book won the BBC's Big Read competition, and the Return of the King film is expected to pick up several Oscars next year.

The movie is also being shown eight times a day at the UGC cinema in Shaw Ridge Leisure Park in West Swindon.

Andy Tate