NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - It's not just Middle-Earth that Frodo, Sam and the gang will be fighting for when the third and last "Lord of the Rings" movie opens Wednesday -- they're also trying to rescue the holiday movie season for media powerhouse Time Warner Inc.

Much is riding on the latest "Lord of the Rings" for studio owner Time Warner after some disappointing box office numbers this fall.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" opens on 3,600 U.S. movie screens and in 27 other countries. The first two films --"Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" -- did more than $650 million in combined U.S. box office and a total of $1.8 billion worldwide, and both rank among the top seven grossing films of all time.

But the New Line Cinema film will have to repeat or top its predecessors' earlier success to help the quarterly revenue goals of Time Warner, which is also the parent of CNN/Money.

The company has seen its other studio, Warner Bros., release two fourth-quarter blockbusters to disappointing box office -- "Matrix Revolutions," the third film in the "Matrix" series, and "The Last Samurai," starring Tom Cruise.

"Matrix Revolutions" had a marketing and production budget reported at $185 million, but has done only $136.9 million in the United States since its Nov. 7 opening. The take is not that far above the $90 million to $100 million some analysts were looking for in its first five days in the theaters.

"The Matrix Revolutions" box office has been far less than expectations.

"I wish I knew the answer, whether fans got tired of 'Matrix,' or whether the second one turned them off. But something didn't work," said Dennis McAlpine, an independent media analyst.

"The Last Samurai," with a reported marketing and production budget of $170 million, came in with a $24.3 million on its opening weekend, the poorest opening for a Cruise movie since 1999's "Eyes Wide Shut." It's done $48.2 million in its first 11 days in U.S. theaters.

"Matrix" and "Samurai" had been expected by industry analysts to take in more than $350 million combined in domestic box office, but it now appears they'll miss that target by $100 million or more.

So the pressure's on "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."

"There's a lot at stake. There always have been with these films," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "That being said, this (Lord of the Rings) is as much of a sure thing as you can get at the box office. It's a real important film for Time Warner, but I think it's going to deliver."

"The Last Samurai" had a relatively weak open for a Tom Cruise movie.

Last year's "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" was the best December opening weekend of all time with a U.S. box office of $62 million. That could be the standard by which "Return of the King" is judged.

"That's always the problem with films that get high expectation attached to them," said Dergarabedian. "If this does not beat the opening of 'Two Towers,' people will be decrying it as disappointment."

New Line co-chairman and co-CEO Michael Lynne won't say what number the studio is targeting for the opening or total box office. But he said he's pleased by the great critical review. It's been named best picture by the New York Film Critics Circle, and an early leader for the Academy Awards' top prize. By comparison "The Matrix Revolutions" got generally negative reviews.

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"We're incredibly thrilled by the critical response we're getting," he said.

Lynne, who believes Warner Bros. has had a good year no matter how the fourth quarter comes out, denies New Line faces any greater pressure to perform due to the weak end of year at its sister studio.

"We operate as semi-independent units, obviously both responsible for delivery on our own budgets," he said.

Lynne and co-Chairman and co-CEO Robert Shaye took a great risk when they agreed to spend more than $330 million to make all three Lord of the Rings films at the same time, without knowing how strong the franchise would be at the box office.

"Elf" has been a hit for New Line with a small budget.

But Lynne said the cost of making all three movies in succession rather than together would have been two or three times as great. He doubts New Line or other studios will try the same unconventional schedule again, despite the financial success that resulted this time.

"We couldn't have been done at all if hadn't been done at once," he said. "But there's no repeating it. It was a situation that uniquely suited itself to the approach we took."

New Line has also had success this quarter with the family comedy "Elf," which has done bigger U.S. box office than "Matrix Revolutions," and whose budget was a relatively paltry $58 million.

New Line and Time Warner as a whole will have a hard time matching 2003's film revenue next year, said Bernstein media analyst Tom Wolzien. The company's filmed entertainment unit had revenue of $7.6 billion in the first three quarters of this year, up 6 percent from the previous year's period. It is expected to top $10 billion for the full year for the second straight year.

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"The Matrix Reloaded," the second in the series, also came out earlier this year to much stronger box office numbers, and even with the disappointing numbers for the third movie, it was overall a strong franchise. The end of that and the Lord of the Rings series will be tough to replace, even with the next Harry Potter movie due in June from Warner Bros.

"It's pretty clear they can't sustain where they've been," said Wolzien. "But the underpinnings for strong video and DVD sales are there and they've had a phenomenal run. The question is are they able to transition from these to other titles or will they have a few years where they revert to the mean."