New Line Cinema's award-winning website for The Lord Of The Rings has generated more than 350 million hits worldwide since re-launching on January 12, 2001.

Data tabulated by ABC Interactive confirmed that more than 275,463,832 hits were registered on the site in January and February of this year. Since the auditing process takes several weeks to complete, the studio has not requested an audit of site traffic for March, although internal estimates add another 82 million hits to the tally, bringing the three-month total to 357,463,832 million.

The site, which has been overseen and implemented by Gordon Paddison, New Line's Senior Vice President of Interactive Marketing, was launched in 10 languages. And while some countries have not yet unveiled the material, New Line plans on debuting the first instalment of the trilogy -- The Fellowship of the Ring on December 19, 2001 worldwide with the exception of a few territories.

Global distribution partners will preview selected footage from the trilogy this May, when New Line hosts a series of events themed around The Lord of the Rings at the Cannes International Film Festival.

``Cannes will serve as our official worldwide media launch for The Lord of the Rings, Rolf Mittweg said, explaining the festival is another important cornerstone of the studio's launch campaign. ``As the global press converge on the Croissette, New Line will pull out all the stops to ensure that movie fans everywhere discover the first instalment of this epic cinematic event.''