Ve lo avevamo già anticipato qualche settimana fa (vedi news), ma ora è arrivata la conferma ufficiale dalla divisione statunitense di Warner Home Video: l'edizione Blu-ray "Extended" della trilogia de "Il Signore degli Anelli" arriverà nei negozi USA a partire dal prossimo 28 giugno. Warner ha anche svelato i dettagli dell'edizione, con il cofanetto in "Limited Extended Edition" che comprenderà ben 15 dischi: 6 Blu-ray e 9 DVD. Ogni capitolo della saga sarà suddiviso su 2 Blu-ray, in modo da mantenere elevato il bit-rate di encoding e l'audio inglese sarà come per le edizioni cinematografiche in DTS HD Master Audio 6.1.

Secondo quanto comunicato da Warner, il primo capitolo della saga (che aveva suscitato diverse perplessità in merito alla qualità video da parte degli appassionati) beneficerà di un nuovo master che è stato ulteriormente rimasterizzato e telecinemato in 2K. Complessivamente la nuova edizione potrà contare su un totale di 26 ore di contenuti extra, con i commenti audio inseriti nei Blu-ray, mentre i documentari saranno suddivisi su i 9 DVD. Venendo all'edizione italiana, abbiamo appena sentito i responsabili Medusa, che ci hanno confermato che anche per la nostra penisola l'uscita del cofanetto "Extended" è prevista per il 28 giugno. Anche in Italia l'edizione prevede 15 dischi, ma ci vorrà anche qualche giorno per avere tutti i dettagli tecnici, mentre i contenuti speciali dovrebbero essere gli stessi dell'edizione USA.

Di seguito i dettagli annunciati da Warner per il cofanetto "Extended Limited Edition":

Disc 1 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 1
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
Commentary with Cast
BD-Live enabled

Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 2
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
Commentary with Cast
BD-Live enabled

Disc 3 (DVD)
The Appendices Part 1 From Book to Vision
Peter Jackson Introduction
JRR Tolkien: Creator of Middle-earth
From Book To Script
Visualizing the Story
Designing and Building Middle-earth
Middle-earth Atlas Interactive
New Zealand and Middle-earth Interactive

Disc 4 (DVD)
The Appendices Part Two From Vision to Reality
Elijah Wood Introduction
Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
Visual Effects
Post Production: Putting It All Together
Digital Grading
Sound and Music
The Road Goes Ever On…

Disc 5 (DVD)
Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Disc 6 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 1
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
Commentary with Cast
BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 7 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 2
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
Commentary with Cast
BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 8 (DVD)
The Appendices Part 3: The Journey Continues
Peter Jackson Introduction
JRR Tolkien: Origin of Middle-earth
From Book to Script: Finding the Story
Designing and Building Middle-earth
Gollum
Middle-earth Atlas Interactive
New Zealand as Middle-earth

Disc 9 (DVD)
The Appendices Part 4: The Battle for Middle-earth
Elijah Wood Introduction
Filming The Two Towers
Visual Effects
Editorial: Refining the Story
Music and Sound
The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over…

Disc 10 (DVD)
Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Disc 11 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Feature Extended Edition Part 1
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
Commentary with Cast
BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 12 (Blu-ray)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King Feature Extended Edition Part 2
Commentary with Director & Writers
Commentary with Design Team
Commentary with Production and Post Production
BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 13 (DVD)
The Appendices Part 5: The War of the Ring
Peter Jackson Introduction
JRR Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
From Book to Script
Designing and Building Middle-earth
Home of the Horse Lords
Middle-earth Atlas
New Zealand as Middle-earth

Disc 14 (DVD)
The Appendices Part 6: The Passing of an Age
Introduction
Filming The Return of the King
Visual Effects
Post-Production: Journey´s End
The Passing of an Age
Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for Into the West

Disc 15 (DVD)
Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Fonte: Warner Home Video / Medusa