Jackskeleton

I throw in the six week minimum for the simple purpose of expressing a point.

Say for example From Justin to kelly. Fox wanted to release the dvd six weeks after theater release and meet theater owner protest because it would eat up it's own profit.

You also have to factor in the time spent to creating and mastering for both version. Add in the time for extra's to added. Either way, I'm not saying it's a solid june/july then november release. if they push up the theater version dvd then it would of course mean that EE will come out sooner as well but there will be a 2-3 month wait between just like the other two. worked well before, if it aint broke, why fix it?

talemyn

I agree that the 2-1/2 to 3 month split works well for them, but there is absolutely no reason for the theatrical release to come out as late as August. The May/August release makes the most sense . . .

Jepthah

You can expect the same DVD schedule (roughly) for at least one very good reason: like the two previous films, but even more so this time, Return of the King will play theatrically well into the summer. These films have the longest 'legs' at the box-office besides sleeper hits at art-house theatres.

PJsig08

Not like I know or anything, but I'm sure these DVDs will follow the EXACT same schedule. Simply put, it's proved to be big business for New Line. As much as you want to believe it, they won't change these dates just so some hardcore fans (ie DVDTalkers) can get the DVDs a couple months early.

More importantly, selling the EE around mid-November is gold. Perfect timing for the holidays. I want the EE asap as well, but I'll live. Just watch some other movies and November will come eventually.

GuessWho

Me.

I only buy the theatricals.

darqleo

The fact is, PJ is already in pre-production for King Kong, so I would imagine the ROTK:EE will be the same as the last 2 EE's... in November.

kmac

Actually, its 3 months. The theatrical came out in August and the EE came out in Nov.

3 months is a long wait to see it. I would definately wait 1 month and possibly 2 for the EE, but 3 months caused me to buy TT.

Also, they do this on purpose. The EE is released right before christmas for the sales boost. September would not be a good month to release the EE.

I bet the schedule will stay the same. Be patient people!!!!

Jason

ROTK will be gone from theaters (except dollar houses) by April.

Josh H

I say it will be the same as before. It has to take a while to add in the new scenes, as they have to do whole new CGI shots for many of them.

Plus, as others said, they'll want a gap in between the two releases to get more people to buy both versions.

I'll wait for the EE again regardless of the dates.

Jepthah

First of all, I said it would play theatrically into the summer, not where. Second, it is a fact that both of the previous films continued to play not only at 'dollar houses' but regular screens well into late spring and sometimes even early summer, at least in major metropolitan areas. I saw Fellowship at a full-price theater in June 2002, with a 3/4 packed house for a matinee. I could have seen The Two Towers at one in July 2003. Theater owners love these films because the motion picture distribution game goes like this: the longer it plays and continues to do good business, the more of the take the theater gets to keep--much more.

Staying on topic, it makes good business sense for New Line to keep the same DVD release schedule, so they get maximum box-office dollars worldwide and build the same awareness of the release close to the best release dates for their own sales.

joffa

That's rubbish. They were still working on both films (theatrical) right up until the last minute. The production needed every scrap of time it could get - there is no way they could have EASILY moved up the theatrical releases. As far as releasing both TTT versions simultaneously, I also doubt that this would be a possibility.

kmac

Damn, you people are impatient! I think the schedule is fine. It isn't even out in the theaters until tomorrow.

Give these people a break! They have been working hard to bring us a wonderful trilogy and the best DVD releases to date.

Don't they deserve some time off? I read that Peter Jackson is only taking the holidays and New Years off. Then, he starts on King Kong. I am sure that he has to squeeze in time to reedit ROTK and record commentary. That doesn't include anything else that he has to do for the DVD release. Also, lets hope that he is busy in late March giving an acceptance speech. He deserves it!

They have this schedule for a reason. There are many things going on behind the scenes.

Quit whining about not having it on DVD right away. Look how long it took us to get Indy and other favorites. Personally, I applaud the way that New Line and Peter Jackson have handled the theatrical and DVD releases. Lets not criticize them just because you are impatient.

joesa

I agree about this to a certain extent, but releasing the EE in novemeber has benifited from free advertising from the december theater movie (and vise versa). This will not be the case next year. To have LOTR on peoples minds still, an eariler release of the EE would make better marketing sense.

MEJHarrison

I can't speak for the average person out there. But after investing two years of my time into this, I'm not likely to "forget" about the conclusion to the trilogy even if it takes it five years to come out.