Middle-earth fans rejoice! The Lord of the Rings movies are being released in super-glossy Ultra HD just in time for the holidays. Also the Hobbit movies.
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies are among the most successful and influential fantasy films ever created. Between $3 billion earned at the global box office and a mountain of Academy Awards, they’re still remembered fondly to this day, with lots of fans who would happily experience the story again.
And now they’ll get to, thanks to an impending 4K Ultra HD release of all three films, plus the three movies in Peter Jackson’s lamer Hobbit series, which is also nice.
The official announcement came from Sean Astin, Samwise Gamgee himself:
“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,” he said. “Now, because it’s in 4K UHD, you know it’s going to be the most incredible home-viewing experience possible.”
According to Astin, Peter Jackson oversaw the remastering personally. “And I can say that working with Peter was the adventure of a lifetime,” he continued. “And the friendships that I made will last forever. Enjoy!”
As Astin said, the new releases drop on December 1, just in time for the holidays.
The Lord of the Rings is having a bit of a revival, with Amazon mounting an expensive, expansive new TV show set during the Second Age of Middle-earth. However, it’s starting to sound like that series may take as much inspiration from the more recent fantasy hit Game of Thrones as it will from J.R.R. Tolkien:
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