For those who were on the journey of waiting for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy to be on 4K, you are near the end. That’s because both 4K box sets are on their way this coming December. The announcement actually went live yesterday when pre-ordering for the upcoming releases went live. Additionally, ‘Lord of the Rings’ star Sean Astin, who played Samwise posted a video about the future release.
The two epic trilogies include the theatrical and extended versions of the six films in 4K UHD with HDR. ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy includes ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,’ and ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.’ ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy includes ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,’ ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,’ which won Academy Awards® for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Both trilogies will also include Digital copies of both versions of each film.
While the new 4K releases will be available later this year, just in time for the holidays, you may have an excuse to wait, or even double dip, because WB will also be releasing a 4K UHD “Middle-earth” Ultimate Collectors’ Edition featuring the theatrical and extended versions of all six films, along with new bonus content, previously released Blu-ray discs of ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy, and remastered Blu-ray discs of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy will be released in the summer of 2021. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy featuring remastered Blu-ray discs of the theatrical and extended versions of the 3 films will also be released in the fourth quarter 2021, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.’
Though the press release did not reveal any of the bonus features that would come with the 4K release in December, one has to assume that they would be from the previous releases, while the newer ones would be saved for the Ultimate Collectors’ Edition. Of course, that is just speculation on my part.
Regardless, it is about time that ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogies got a major upgrade. Now we just have to wait a little while longer for that day to come.
‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy arrive on 4K UHD 12/1
A Special Message from Sean Astin
