Fans of 'The Lord of the Rings' can't get a
break. After the unceremonious postponement of the release of the theatrical
versions of the 'Rings' movies on Blu-ray (see blu-ray.com September 9), now
comes the news that the theatrical release of the first instalment of 'The
Hobbit' (often mentioned as the probable release date for the extended
versions on BD) could also be delayed one full year, to late 2012.
Peter Jackson is working on the screenplay of the second Hobbit film. If all
goes well and he receives the green light, he hopes to begin filming in mid-
2010.
I'd rather wait another year for the Hobbit and have Peter Jackson and co. get it right than to rush it and have it turned out like a Twilight film. I'm looking forward to seeing Jackson's The Lovely Bones in a couple weeks!
As I have said previously - I refuse to bother with the theatrical release and if the extended doesn't come until end 2012 that's 3 more years of delay which will do nothing more than p|ss people off even more. LOTR, Star Wars, Jurassic Park - where the hell are these?
Were's my precious?
As anyone who likes LotR, it's a hell to wait, but what else can we do?
My advice: Keep yourself alive, that's the most practical thing you can do.
@Heirren: Are you going to make the christmas movie: ''A New Line Carol''?
Sounds fun!
Gives me another year's break from LOTR (seen the EE DVDs waaay too many times before :P) to make it an even better "return of the rings" experience in 2012!!
OMG...there is no getting it right. Just remaster the extended editions that are currently out there and release them for crying out loud. It's not rocket science! It's not like anything that can really be added to those dics! Sick of hearing people say that the would rather see him get them right! What's to get right?????
Can't be that they'll continue to hook the release of LOTR EE to The Hobbit. They insist? fine with me, I'll stick with my standard DVD EE. Won't spend a dime on the regular editions when they (finally) come out, and just because they have something we want doesn't mean they can drag us on for who-knows-when...
They should be let known that, hey, you want to release it in 2 years? 3 years? fine, but we're not buying. Maybe if they get stuck with tons of unsold BDs and will be forced to sell them at a loss, they'll get it.
I'm sure Peter Jackson can find the time to finish off these editions. Peter, please don't pull a GL and keep us waiting forever...
Seeing that the world is gonna end in 2012 (either by Mayan prophecy OR Sarah Palin being elected Prez), both THE HOBBIT and the LOTR Extended Blu's had better be released beforehand!!!!
And I'm with DonRSD - we want BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!!!! The good news is that 2010 is the 25th anniversary of the first film, so that definitely increases the chances. I've heard Bob Gale already state a hi-def transfer has been encoded, so that's also great news!!!
I would really like to see Peter Jackson get the EE editions of LOTR out by mid year 2010.
I am a huge fan of this story and I want to see the Blu-ray editions as absolute reference copies but man it is hard to keep waiting & waiting.
This news didn't surprise in the least, because I had anticipated their was going to be another delay for the Blu-ray release of TLOTR, and I was right. This is exactly why, I don't rely on the rumors that's being posted on this site. If any upcoming Blu-ray releases are not official direct from the studio, then don't post it.
These better have the most pristine A/V encoding....as well as BD3D for this unreasonable wait...I wouldn't mind watching the trilogy in 3D...come on P-Jack!!
Oh well, I don't know how long this will continue. Hope they release them soon with the right picture and sound quality, TrueHD 7.1 would be nice or maybe Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 at an extremely high bit rate if there isn't much space left on the disc. It would also be nice if they left the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track but only with a higher bit rate and with a tighter low end for the subwoofer.
You know, LOTR (extended) was gonna be a day one purchase for me, regardless of cost. If they keep yanking my chain, I'll just treat it like every other release and hold out for a killer sale after they're released. This is just stupid.
Why doesn't New Line release the LOTR Blus in the meantime? They could make a lot of money now on the Theatrical versions, then hit us with the double-dip (on the EE blus) in 2012 when the Hobbit is finally released. If they wait and release everything all at once, we will pick and choose with our money and they (New Line) will lose $.
Maybe Jackson is waiting for bigger HDTV/Blu-ray player market penetration like Lucas! They both can bend over and I'll show 'em penetration! Seriously though, release LOTR EE on Blu already as well as Star Wars and Indy.
As far as LOTR goes I wish they would just pick a date set in stone for release. They've been telling us this date and that date or this time period and that time period. They need to keep their mouths shut until they are dead positive of a release date.
Dolby Digital Plus (which is compressed) was encoded on the HD-DVD format, not Blu-ray. Lossless audios: Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and PCM (Uncompressed) are featured on Blu-ray.
You guys that keep talking about this like it's Jackson's decision do realize that unlike George Lucas, who does own his films, Warner Bros can do pretty much whatever they want with Lord of the Rings. About the most control they've given to Peter Jackson is what kind of special features will be provided.
According to this website, (http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/3119527/Hobbit-shoot-delayed-Jackson-says), the delay is accurate. Of course, can you really believe everything you read on the internet? That being said, I do believe that studios should stop delaying the releases and double dipping, just to make extra money. Release all the versions at once, so that people can get the ones they want.
I find it interesting that so many people can’t wait to get movies on blu ray that they own on DVD. Like DVD is a four letter word now. The EE DVDs are excellent quality in themselves, spread over two discs for improved bitrate – sure they don’t hold up to the best Blu Ray releases but they can still be enjoyable. I do enjoy these films but I’ve only watched them once completely since purchasing them. I’d much rather have films released on blu ray that never had good DVD releases, like Jackson’s BrainDead or Meet the Feebles. None of my favorite films have been released on blu ray yet – Paris, Texas being one coming out soon.
I agree with you 100%. Whenever The Lord of the Rings is finally released on Blu-ray, people are going to rush, and buy it, and then end up reselling it on Half.com, Ebay, or Amazon. Currently, I still haven't watch the Extended Versions on DVD, that's been collecting dust in my storage rack ever since I've purchased them at rock bottom prices (used) approximately two years ago.
Nathan has an excellent point -- dare I even mention (and this comes from someone who buys a TON of blu discs) that upscaling is so fine on most BD players that most of the time I can't even tell when a movie is truly BD?
The other factor -- unlike most of you I've spent most of my life only being able to see a film when it was in theaters or when it was shown on television. Heck, I can't even count all the times I stayed up late to see a movie scheduled early in the morning because that was the only choice to see it at all (and had to suffer through commercials, and had to see it on a 24" screen, with a print that was panned and scanned, cut for time, and maybe pretty lousy copy to begin with, etc. etc.). We live in a tremendous age when about 70% of all movies ever made are available to watch any time we want in spectacular image and sound and then I hear people griping (and, sometimes, myself) that such and such a film ain't on BD yet.
Let's be thankful for what we do have and not obsess over what we don't yet. You kids will definitely live long enough to have all the films you want in the format you want, unlike me. Enjoy it!
Alright, that's it for me. See ya guys, it was nice knowing you. I hope whatever afterlife comes soon has LOTR extended editions on blu ray waiting for me.
Thanks blu-ray, you'll get a nice mention on my note for being the bearer of fantastic news.
Hahaha, but really this is annoying.
“We’re currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we’ve received no green light from the studio yet.” (- translated from German quote-)
