The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson’s celebrated collection of epic fantasy adventure films based on British author J. R. R. Tolkien’s original novels, will be returning to cinemas this summer, over two decades after the third and final film, The Return of the King (2003), premiered in theaters, Fathom Events has announced. These will be the extended versions of the films, which originally appeared as part of a 15-disc Blu-ray set in 2011, bringing new editing, new scenes, additional special effects, and more to Jackson’s original vision, but remastered.
Event dates:
- The Fellowship of the Ring (June 8)
- The Two Towers (June 9)
- The Return of the King (June 10)
Extended Edition posters:
Fathom on the films:
Peter Jackson’s award-winning “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy” includes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The Trilogy tells the story of a meek hobbit of The Shire and eight companions setting out on a journey to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring and the dark lord Sauron.
A note from Variety:
The versions screened will be Jackson’s extended editions (so you might want get the jumbo tub of popcorn), and also the versions that the filmmaker remastered in 2020 for a 4K Ultra HD rerelease. This is the first time the remastered versions will be in theaters.
Discussion (3 replies)
Join Discussion →How much new material? How touched up for the new special effects? And given the extended status, for an already very long set of movies, how will my bladder manage a large cherry coke and a what? 5 hour movie??
It's just what was in the Extended Editions that were released ages ago. Some of which I would say is quite important, and included stuff I wish had been in the original theatrical releases (like when they finally dealt with Saruman in RotK).
The Extended Editions were meant for home watching, where you can pause and go to the bathroom. Good luck trying to watch those in the theater!
Ya I have the extended versions on either DVD or Blu Ray, and every few years spend a long weekend watching them.
I forget if it was the linked article or elsewhere, I had though I read somewhere, that there video and fx, not in the original extended release.
Or perhaps I am reading too much into 'remastered?' Even if it is just cleaned up video and sound, ya the first extended was well done, today's tech could do it better.
Hmmmmmmm