It wasn’t a secret that they were filming all 3 LOTR movies at once. The expectations were set for multiple films.
If they divided the story in order to make two movies - like Dune, then they need to say so. If people buy a ticket expecting to see the whole thing, only to have an end card pop up saying something like “look forward to seeing everyone again in 2026,” the studio is going to have more trouble than they already have.
It wasn’t a secret that they were filming all 3 LOTR movies at once. The expectations were set for multiple films.
If they divided the story in order to make two movies - like Dune, then they need to say so. If people buy a ticket expecting to see the whole thing, only to have an end card pop up saying something like “look forward to seeing everyone again in 2026,” the studio is going to have more trouble than they already have.