The Return of the King re-release will include not only the extended version but extra features as well.
The Lord of the Rings film franchise adapted impeccably from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel series, has remained a golden standard for the genre and Peter Jackson’s crowning achievement. It has aged resiliently since bringing droves of both book readers and fantasy fans to theaters in the early 2000s. Now, per a report from Collider, fans everywhere have a chance to return to Middle Earth and relive the third magnificent installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, when it returns to theaters for a special anniversary on Apr. 13.
The re-release of Return of the King will mark the two-decade anniversary since the film first premiered in theaters in 2003. It built on the magnificence of the first two films of the trilogy, which as a whole solidified Peter Jackson among the greatest directors alive. The final film earned a staggering 11 Oscars, winning literally every category it was nominated in, and remains a joint Academy Award record holder alongside Titanic (1997) and Ben Hur (1959).
Regal and Cinemark are spearheading this return to theaters on Apr. 13, and they will, in fact, be showing the extended edition of the film, which is 260 minutes long. This version was initially released on DVD a year after the original cinematic release. With its added weight to the overall storyline, particularly for Aragorn, it will definitely benefit from showing on the big screen. What’s more, Cinemark theater-goers will also be treated to a special introduction from Elijah Wood, who played the lead role of Frodo Baggins in both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. There will also be a behind-the-scenes look at the new Lord of the Rings tabletop roleplay game at LA Comic Con. Ticket sales for the re-release are expected to start very soon, and demand will likely be astronomical, so anyone planning to snag one should keep their preferred ticket site ready and refreshed.
New Projects Ahead for The Lord of the Rings Universe
The chance to relive the original glory of the trilogy that started it all comes in the wake of an ongoing slate of new projects within J.R.R Tolkien’s universe that so far has been undeniably hit-and-miss. Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy that followed several years after the original films drew in massive audiences wanting to relive the magic and was a definite box office success all around, but the critical response to the prequel storyline was more mixed. While still receiving a significant amount of praise, some said the films “stumbled” and included too much “padding” in the writing and weren’t living well enough up to the ever-evolving filmmaking technology of the time. So the second trilogy didn’t quite make the impact of the first.
More recently, Amazon debuted a new series titled Rings of Power which is even more of a prequel, set thousands of years before Jackson’s trilogies but well within Tolkien’s universe and its lore. So far, it’s received generally favorable reception for its accurate, endearing, opulent rendering of Middle Earth. Yet it also has not made anywhere near the impact of the movies that started it all.
The biggest spotlight right now is on Warner Bros’ announcement of new Lord of the Rings feature films in the works, which will also thankfully see the return of acclaimed director Peter Jackson. Given the sheer magnitude of Tolkien’s universe, there are plenty of stories yet to be told that could be vividly re-imagined in these new films, and with Jackson hopefully back at the wheel, there’s no doubt that millions of fans everywhere are looking forward to seeing what he envisions next.
