‘The Hobbit’ Extended Edition Already Confirmed For Release Next Year

Warner Bros. has confirmed that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit will be released in an extended edition sometime during the fourth quarter of 2013, Collider reports. Although the film hasn’t hit theaters yet, executives are assuring fans everywhere that, yes, Jackson’s next adventure through Middle Earth will receive roughly the same treatment as his Lord of the Rings films.

Not surprisingly, the home video release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is expected to coincide with the release of the second film in the trilogy, namely The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. While Warner Bros. didn’t say whether or not the other two films in the series would also receive extended editions, it’s very likely they will.

According to the folks at Screen Crush, the extended version of The Hobbit is not the only scheme Warner Bros. has cooked up to separate you from your hard-earned money. Next winter, the studio will unleash the The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition box set on both DVD and Blu-ray. Unfortunately for those who must have a release date right away, executives at Warner are keeping that card close to their chests for now.

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, meanwhile, is slated to arrive in US theaters on December 14. The film reunites the award-winning director with a number of his Lord of the Rings cast members including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, and Andy Serkis, the latter of whom will reprise his role as Gollum.

The second installment in the series, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, won’t hit theaters until roughly a year later; the movie is presently scheduled for release on December 13, 2013. Fortunately, fans of the series won’t have to wait too long between the second and third installments as The Hobbit: There and Back Again arrives on July 18, 2014.

Will you pick up an extended copy of The Hobbit when it’s released on DVD and Blu-ray next year?