'The Lord of the Rings' & 'The Hobbit' reportedly coming to UHD Blu-ray

Warner Bros is planning to release The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies on UHD Blu-ray in mid-2020, according to a report by 4KFilme.de. Both the standard and extended versions.

The Lord of the Rings in 4K HDR
Warner Bros has yet to confirm the news but German website 4KFilme has in the past provided accurate details ahead of the official announcements of The Shining, Batman and other titles on UHD Blu-ray.

The studio is apparently planning to release not only the standard versions of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films but also the extended versions on UHD Blu-ray. This includes The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) as well as An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

The report claims that Warner Bros is planning to release the titles on UHD Blu-ray in mid-2020, more specifically June 25, 2020. This is presumably the European release date so plans may look different for the US. 



The UHD Blu-ray releases will reportedly be 4K remasters. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot on analog 35mm film, whereas The Hobbit trilogy was shot digitally in 48 frames per second with 3D, and in up to 5K resolution. The UHD Blu-ray specification does not include support for 48fps video nor 3D 4K.

Will the discs feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos? We don't know at this time.

Although we are still awaiting the official word, this is obviously exciting news for movie buffs. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films are modern classics. One must assume that the 4K HDR versions will also cross the chasm into the online realm.

- Source: 4KFilme.de