Merged Thread: LOTR: ROTK - Theatrical & EE Release Dates? & DVD Features (1 Viewer)

Derek Iverson · Jan 7, 2004

I was wondering if anyone knew what the expected release dates are for the Return of the King. Will the theatrical release come out in the summer, followed by the extended edition release in the fall like last year for the Two Towers?

Adam_WM · Jan 7, 2004

They are figuring maybe May at the earliest for theatrical with a August-Nov. frame for the EE. Nothing concrete though.

Derek Iverson · Jan 7, 2004

This is going to be the hardest out of the three to wait for (for me anyway).

Ricardo C · Jan 7, 2004

What I'd like to know is if the theatrical cut will be spread over two discs, just like the EE. I think its running time definitely justifies it.

Greg_S_H · Jan 7, 2004

Is the jury still out on the AICN rumor posted at the 'Bits that New Line isn't willing to pay WETA to finish the extended version, or was that rumor debunked?

Nick Sievers · Jan 7, 2004

I think there is a good chance of the film being split over 2 discs, the running time is 201mins. The other 2 theatrical editions must have been pushing the capacity of one DVD-9. If it is split what do you think the chances of including a DTS-ES track are?

Ricardo C · Jan 7, 2004

Nick, I doubt they'll give us DTS on the TE, even if the space allows it. They'll probably want to keep it as a selling point for the EE.

I really, REALLY hope the TE comes on two discs. I'll be buying the EE as well, and it will likely become my preferred version, but I love the theatrical edit as it currently stands and want it preserved with the best possible quality.

Greg, I thought that situation had turned out to be much ado about nothing, and that Weta had ALWAYS had extra help from other FX houses while preparing the previous two EE's?

greg_t · Jan 7, 2004

Same here. It can be put on one disc though, Warner did a good job with God and Generals on one disc, and it was 238 minutes. Spread out over two discs would be nice though.

Jay Mitchosky · Jan 7, 2004

My guess is August for theatrical and November for extended cut just like the other two films.

I couldn't imagine anything of the sort. The Rings has been a goldmine for New Line and they're not going to stop now.

Dave H · Jan 7, 2004

Apocalypse Now Redux is just about three hours and twenty minutes on one disc and looks good.

Haden · Jan 7, 2004

TheOneRing.net already debunked AICN's bogus rumor last month with confirmation from someone at New Line saying that it was absolutely untrue. WETA is doing all the effects for the ROTK:EE.

As for release dates, I'm going on the assumption that ROTK will come out during the same months FOTR and TTT came out, until we hear official confirmation saying otherwise.

So...
ROTK Theatrical - August
ROTK EE - November

Richard Kim · Jan 7, 2004

Since Jackson and co don't have anymore LOTR films to work on, I can see the release dates for ROTK DVDs being moved up.

Chazz_S · Jan 7, 2004

King Kong is quite a handful wouldn't you think?

I agree with the 'same release schedule as the last two until there's an official announcement otherwise' line of thinking.

Haden · Jan 7, 2004

Yeah, we heard this same bogus "Theatrical in May, EE in August" rumor for Two Towers too, and that proved to be wrong. Logic says we'll get ROTK in the same months we got the first two.

Richard Kim · Jan 7, 2004

But Jackson isn't rushing to complete King Kong for the end of the year like the LOTR films, so I'd say that would allow for an earlier release for the ROTK DVDs.

Phil Florian · Jan 7, 2004

And more importantly, he wants to be DONE with LOTR and put it to bed. I don't see him wanting to waste (well, not waste, but USE) time that could be spent prepping for a 2005 shoot for Kong on finishing up an EE edition of ROTK. I read on another forum that he wanted the cut for the EE done NOW so that the FX guys can get it ready as soon as possible. Sure, they still might hold on to it until the usual time just because it is predictable programming but I don't see him working up to the last minute in July to finish it. I would think by then he will be 6 months deep into Kong pre-production at that point.

I hope.

Phil

Nick Sievers · Jan 7, 2004

I'm hoping for the theatrical to come a little sooner than the previous two, maybe June which makes it about 6 months from its debut. The August release is a rather long wait. I still expect the EE to come in November, it is the perfect time for consumers to buy it for the holiday season.

Josh Steinberg · Jan 7, 2004

I like how they put out both the Fellowship and Two Towers extended editions in theaters for limited runs this past December - I'd love it if Return Of The King extended got a similar theatrical showing.

Cary · Jan 7, 2004

May 25th for the theatrical version, usual Tuesday before Thanksgiving for the extended cut. And then there's the boxset...

Robert Anthony · Jan 7, 2004

I'm with Richard--I believe the reasons the releases were set up the way they were for the first two had EVERYTHING to do with concurrently working on post for the following movie. There's no following movie now, so there's really no reason they couldn't be done sooner than what they are.

I don't know when the announcement is, but I wouldn't call a month early on each release far-fetched--if not even a little earlier.

Hell, if they wanted to get REALLY ambitious, they could do the Theatrical in April/May, the Extended in July/August, and a 3pack boxset of all 3 EE's (and/or a 3pack boxset of the TE's) in November/December.

I think that's very within the realm of possibility

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