The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray Set for April (Update)

New Line Home Entertainment, in conjunction with Warner Home Video, will release 'The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy' on Blu-ray on April 6, 2010. Release details are largely unchanged from those revealed early in the year (see blu-ray.com, June 24). The nine- disc box set will contain the theatrical versions of the movies, along with more than seven hours of special features (on three regular DVDs), digital copies for each film, and previews for the extended versions of the films (which will come out on Blu-ray "at a later date").

A week later, Warner Home Video will release the 1978 animated version of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic.



Update

Warner Home Video has now released the technical specifications and full special features for this title. Video will be presented in 2.40:1 1080p, whereas audio will be 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. Subtitles will be provided in English, French, German, Spanish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Slovenian.

Content per disc is as follows:

Disc 1 (Blu-ray)

• Feature Film: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Trailers:
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy supertrailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest game trailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: War in the North game trailer

Disc 2 (DVD)

• Houghton Mifflin In-Store Special: Welcome to Middle-Earth
• Fox TV Special: Quest for the Ring
• Sci-Fi Channel Special: A Passage to Middle-Earth
• Lordoftherings.net featurettes:
  • Finding Hobbiton
  • Hobbiton Comes Alive
  • Believing the World of Bree
  • Ringwraiths: The Fallen Kings
  • Rivendell: The Elven Refuge
  • Languages of Middle-Earth
  • Two Wizards
  • Music of Middle-Earth
  • Elijah Wood
  • Viggo Mortensen
  • Orlando Bloom
  • Cate Blanchett
  • Liv Tyler
  • Ian McKellen
  • Weathertop: The Windy Hill
• Six TV spots
• Music video: Enya, May it Be
• Special extended DVD edition preview
• The Two TowersBehind-the-scenes preview

Disc 3 (Blu-ray)

• Feature film: The Two Towers
• Trailers:
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy supertrailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest game trailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: War in the North game trailer

Disc 4 (DVD)

• Starz Encore Special: On the Set "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
• WB Special: Return to Middle-Earth
• The Long and Short of It, a short film directed by Sean Astin
• The Making of "The Long and Short of It"
• Lordoftherings.net featurettes:
  • Forces of Darkness
  • Designing the Sounds of Middle-Earth
  • Edoras: The Rohan Capital
  • Creatures of Middle-Earth
  • Gandalf the White
  • Arms and Armor
  • The Battle of Helm's Deep
  • Bringing Gollum to Life
• 16 TV spots
• Music video: Emiliana Torrini, Gollum's Song
• Special extended DVD edition preview
• Behind-the-scenes preview of "The Return of the King"

Disc 5 (Blu-ray)

• Feature Film: The Return of the King
• Trailers:
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy supertrailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest game trailer
  • The Lord of the Rings: War in the North game trailer

Disc 6 (DVD)

• The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision
• A Filmaker's journey: Making "The Return of the King"
• National Geographic Special: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
• Lordoftherings.net featurettes:
  • Aragorn's Destiny
  • Minas Tirith: Capital of Gondor
  • The Battle of Pelennor Fields
  • Samwise the Brave
  • Eowyn: White Lady of Rohan
  • Digital Horse Doubles
• 13 TV spots
• Special extended DVD edition preview

Disc 7 (DVD)

• Digital copy on disc: The Fellowship of the Ring

Disc 8 (DVD)

• Digital copy on disc: The Two Towers

Disc 9 (DVD)

• Digital copy on disc: The Return of the King

The trilogy will also be released on Blu-ray in the UK by Entertainment in Video. It will consist of six discs instead of nine, and will not include any digital copies.