[GameSpot] - $250 Lord Of The Rings Six-Movie 4K Bundle Includes Special Packaging, Art Book, And Travel Cards

[343iBot]

Calling all Middle-earth fans--a new mega-bundle that collects all six movies in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises is coming this October on 4K.

The $250 Middle Earth 6-Film Ultimate Collector's Edition, as it's called, launches on October 26 in the US. The bundle comes with 31 4K and Blu-ray discs in all, comprising the theatrical and extended cuts of each movie, along with director's commentary from Peter Jackson.

Unfortunately, it appears this giant package leaves out the celebrated Appendices, which are the highly detailed, incredibly informative, and illuminating behind-the-scenes features that originally came with the movie on DVD. Based on the promotional images and descriptions on Amazon, it doesn't appear these Appendices are included, but WB has yet to officially announce this bundle so we don't know for sure at this point.

The 31st disc is a recording of the Alamo Drafthouse's special 20th anniversary event where host Stephen Colbert spoke to the cast, Jackson, and other key people involved. What's more, the Festival de Cannes presentation reel is included, the contents of which were not officially disclosed, but this is likely footage from Cannes 2001 where Fellowship debuted. The package also includes a code to download the movies digitally.

The movies come inside collective foil sleeves themed around each film, while the entire package has a collectible slipcase that can be transformed into different configurations, highlighting characters and imagery from across the film series.

Other extras include a 64-page booklet containing costume sketches, photography, and production notes from the fantasy series. Also included are seven poster art cards that imagine famous places in Middle-earth as tourist destinations. They are two-sided, and there is one card for each movie, with the Rivendell card being an additional bonus for a total of seven.

This is presumably the new bundle that Warner Bros. announced last year, though at the time the company said it would include "new" bonus features. That may well be the Cannes footage and not anything more exciting, but Warner Bros. hasn't officially said at this point.

2021 is a big year for The Lord of the Rings, as it marks the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson's film series. In addition to the new six-movie collection, fans can look forward to a new The Lord of the Rings audiobook read by none other than Andy Serkis.

Looking beyond that, Amazon is working on a The Lord of the Rings TV show for 2022 (check out the first image here), while Warner Bros. is fast-tracking an animated The Lord of the Rings movie. A new video game focused on Gollum is also slated for release in 2022.

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