Unlike the other movies mentioned, LOTR existed a great literature for a signficant period of time before being made into a movie. In this sense it is somewhat like Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It had been done successfully many times with a number of different actors in the lead role. (My personal favorite is the George C. Scott version.) But I admit that the screenplays for ACC have been much closer to the original book by Dickens than the screenplay for LOTR. Perhaps that is where we will see improvement.
Personally, my favorite for the classical version would be "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol". In the "alternative" series, I have to admit a fondness for Bill Murray's "Scrooged".