Fathom Events has come out with a trailer for the special showings of all three Hobbit extended editions in early October. The trailer, which is 2 minutes, 19 seconds long, contains shots from all three EEs, including The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Needless to say… spoilers ahead!
The Fathom Events trailer shows only a few seconds of new material sandwiched in between familiar scenes from the theatrical release. However, a quick eye can catch some tantalizing hints about some of the new material. Some of what the sharp-eyed members of our Hobbit Movie discussion forum are buzzing about are listed below (spoiler warning!):
After weeks of rumors (and some nail biting), it’s official! The DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, will be available on Tuesday, November 17. Those who prefer a digital copy can own it four weeks earlier, on Tuesday, October 17. The official press release follows:
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
EXTENDED EDITION
A PRODUCTION OF NEW LINE CINEMA AND
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES, THE FINAL FILM IN THE EPIC THE HOBBIT TRILOGY, ARRIVES ON BLU-RAY™, DVD AND DIGITAL HD FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
EXTENDED EDITION FEATURES A 20-MINUTE LONGER CUT AND
MORE THAN NINE HOURS OF NEW SPECIAL FEATURES
The Hobbit Trilogy Extended EditionAlso Available on
Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD
Burbank, CA, August 25, 2015 – The adventures of Bilbo Baggins come to an epic conclusion when “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” from Academy Award®-winning* filmmaker Peter Jackson, is released as an Extended Edition on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the extended cut of the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy includes 20 minutes of extra footage and more than 9 hours of bonus features that will complete every Hobbit fan’s collection. The film, the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on November 17 and will be available early on Digital HD on October 20.
The day has finally come when tickets for the Hobbit trilogy in theaters are on sale! The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be shown on Tuesday, October 13, 7:30 local time. The event will include an introduction by Sir Peter Jackson and will be the first time the extended edition of BotFA will be viewed by the public.
[Update: Fathom Events has taken down the webpage announcing the above information. However, the dates and times for the EE showings as reported in this article are still correct. Also, although tickets *were* on sale online on Friday (when I purchased mine), the links to buy them are now also unavailable. The new date for online sales is now Tuesday, August 25. Obviously, a cat or two got out of the bag a little early! If you can’t wait until Tuesday, we recommend that you call or visit your local theater directly, as we have had many reports of people getting their tickets just fine that way].
The trilogy showing is being sponsored by Fathom Events and Warner Bros., and TORn has confirmed with Fathom Events that this will be a U.S. event only. For the lucky folks who will have a chance to see it, the next question, of course, is: where can I get tickets? A few weeks ago we published this link to movietickets.com where you can search for theaters in your area that will be showing the trilogy. Enter your zip code and the search radius, and you’ll get a listing of participating theaters. The “Movies” link at the top of the page can be used to search on the other two films.
The good news is, when I did a search for my area, a number of theaters were listed as showing BotFA on October 13th, including theaters in the AMC, United Artists and Regal chains. The interesting (and possibly bad news for some) is when I did a search on the other two movies, they were listed as showing at only one AMC theater: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey extended edition on Monday, October 5th and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug extended edition on Wednesday, October 7th. However, we urge you to keep checking for more locations either by using the provided link, or by calling you local theater.
Update: the Celebration theater chain in Michigan is also showing the trilogy. Same dates as above; $12 a showing which is the same price at the theaters we checked earlier today.
Clear your calendars this coming October! Extended editions of all three Hobbit movies are set to show in theaters over three nights and, of course, you’ll want to see them all! From FarAwayEntertainment.com:
Fathom Events and Warner Bros. are partnering to present the extended editions of all three Hobbit movies. Shown over three nights, the epic Peter Jackson trilogy will be the first time the extended editions have ever been released in theatres. Also included will be an exclusive introduction by director Peter Jackson. First night showing starts Monday, October 5th, 2015 at 7:30pm local. Tickets will be regular admission prices for each movie.
It’s not clear whether the three nights will be consecutive nights, as the AMC Theater website has The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies billed for October 13th. It’s also not clear if other theater chains other than AMC will be carrying the movies. Look for updates here as we get them and if you hear anything from your local theaters, let us know at spymaster@theonering.net.
Update-2 (8/4/15): the Celebration Cinema chain (mid-Michigan) has confirmed that they’ll be participating, but no dates are available yet. We’ve also had confirmation that the AMC 14 in Tustin, CA will be showing all three movies on the following schedule:
The Hobbit: AUJ Extended – Monday, October 5th, 2015 @ 7:30 PM
The Hobbit: DOS Extended – Wednesday, October 7th, 2015 @ 7:30 PM
The Hobbit: BOTFA Extended – Tuesday, October 13th. 2015 @ 7:30 PM
So, it looks like a tentative schedule is starting to materialize: two movies the week of October 5th with the final showing of BOTFA the following week. Exciting news! Thanks to gramma and Ryan for the updates! We’ll continue to report updates here as we get them.
*Please Note: This was one of TheOneRing.net’s annual April Fools Jokes – We are not going anywhere…at least we don’t think we are!* KENOSHA, WISCONSIN — An official press release is scheduled for tomorrow, but we, the TORn founders and staff, want to notify all those who have supported us for the past 15 years that TheOneRing.net is shutting down.
The final decision was communicated in an all-staff conference call over the weekend, but it has been discussed for months, speculated about for years, and we’ve cracked jokes about it from podiums at conventions (that nobody took seriously at the time), but now the long-dreaded hour is finally upon us.
The four TORn Founders (Erica Challis, Chris Pirrotta, Mike Regina and William Thomas) reached a tentative decision last week, discussed it with Senior Staff (identities top secret), then included world-wide staff, active and inactive, on the weekend conference call.
“We have a real sense of accomplishment that the purpose of the website has been fulfilled,” said Regina on the call. “Erica and I were interested in “some guy” in New Zealand adapting “The Lord of the Rings” into movies, and when Chris and Bill found us it really elevated the effort. The next thing you know it became far more than the hobby we envisioned.”
“It’s the perfect time to go out on a high note, fresh off the recent success of the Hobbit movies and The One Last Party,” said Challis. “It is still our collective baby, but the four of us just feel content that it has run its course. We don’t want to be like a “Transformers” sequel.”
Pirrotta agreed with her, pointing out how much of a commitment 15 years is: “I was in college when this started with time to sit in a computer lab. All of us have jobs and kids and responsibilities now. We stayed true to our vision, didn’t sell the website for millions when offered, and we can all feel good about that.”
Thomas offered more practical reasons: “We made a commitment to not make a profit and to give the money away to charity if we did. We accomplished that and I’m proud that we kept the site pure. Plus, Star Wars is back, so we can all follow our true love again. Remember, TORn was just an ode to The Force dot net anyway.”
In the USA, from March 24th, the last in Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies will be available for you to take home. (It’s been available in digital version in many countries since March 3rd; but from Tuesday you can get your hands on a ‘hard’ copy.)
Many fans, of course, like to wait for the Extended Edition release before purchasing a copy; but speaking personally, my collection isn’t complete unless I have the theatrical cut as well. I was thrilled to get my hands on a review copy of the Blu-ray Combo pack, which includes copies of the movie on Blu-ray, on DVD and a Digital HD copy – as well as various extras. Continue reading “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies DVD/Blu-ray review – RELEASE DATE MARCH 24”
