The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K Blu-Ray Announced With December Release Date

The Lord of the Rings trilogy will soon be available in 4K HDR. Warner Bros. has announced a native 4K resolution remaster in Dolby Vision and HDR10 of all three LOTR movies — 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 — that has been overseen by LOTR director Peter Jackson. Available early December in select markets, The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray will also come with an all-new Dolby Atmos 3D audio track.

But that's not all. Warner Bros. will also release The Hobbit trilogy in 4K HDR alongside. Like its counterpart, The Hobbit The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray will feature native 4K resolution with support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10 formats, in addition to a Dolby Atmos track. The Hobbit collection packages The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Pre-orders for The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray and The Hobbit The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray are now open in a few markets, including the US and Germany, at $90 (about Rs. 6,600) or €70 (about Rs. 6,000) per trilogy set. Neither has been listed in India yet. However, most 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray discs are region-free, so you can still play them even if you choose to import.

Both The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray and The Hobbit The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K Blu-ray contain nine Blu-ray discs. Three discs are devoted to each film in the trilogy, for their respective theatrical (one disc) and extended cuts (split over two discs). For LOTR, the theatrical versions have a combined runtime of 558 minutes, with the 4K Blu-ray extended coming in at 682 minutes. With Hobbit, theatrical runtime of the three films is 474 minutes combined, and 532 minutes for extended versions.

“I was privileged to play Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I'm excited today to announce that Warner Bros. will be releasing The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy on 4K UHD on December 1st for the first time,” LOTR actor Sean Astin said in an accompanying video. “Now, because it's in 4K UHD, you know it's going to be the most incredible home-viewing experience possible. Peter Jackson oversaw the remastering himself. And I can say that working with Peter was the adventure of a lifetime. And the friendships that I made will last forever. Enjoy!”

Lord of the Rings fan site TheOneRing carried the announcement by Warner Bros.