R-Rated THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES Extended Edition Confirmed!
Earlier this month there was a rumor that the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies would be rated R. That R-rating has been confirmed by the release of the specs for the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray.
I honestly didn't really think we would see an R-rated Hobbit movie! It's hard for me to think that this film will be more hardcore than what Jackson gave us with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Every one of those films were more violent than any that we saw in the Hobbit films.
The fact that The Battle of the Five Armies was slapped with an R-rating baffles me. I'm really curious to see what exactly Jackson added to it to put it over the edge. Maybe it's just a stunt from the studio to get more people to but the DVD/Blu-ray. But then maybe, just maybe, there are some crazy brutal scenes that were cut from the theatrical version to keep it from being rated-R. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Here's the full press release with all of the details of the upcoming Extended Edition. Will you be buying yourself a copy?
The adventures of Bilbo Baggins come to an epic conclusion when The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, is released as an R-rated Extended Edition on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the extended cut of the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy includes 20 minutes of extra footage and more than 9 hours of bonus features that will complete every Hobbit fan’s collection. The film, the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on November 17 and will be available early on Digital HD on October 20.
In addition, The Hobbit Trilogy Extended Edition will also be available, featuring the extended editions of all three films in The Hobbit Trilogy – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. The international ensemble cast is led by Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Billy Connolly, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Stephen Fry and Ryan Cage. The film also stars Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Mikael Persbrandt, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Adam Brown, John Bell, Manu Bennett and John Tui.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition will be available as a 3-disc Blu-ray set ($35.99 SRP); and a 5-disc DVD set ($34.99 SRP). The Blu-ray and DVD include a digital version of the movie on Digital HD with UltraViolet. Fans can also own The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies via purchase from digital retailers.
The nine plus hours of new special features boasts audio commentary with Peter Jackson, the film’s director/producer/screenwriter, and Philippa Boyens, co-producer/screenwriter, as well as The Appendices, a multi-part documentary focusing on various aspects of the film and the Trilogy.
The Hobbit Trilogy Extended Edition will be available as a 9-disc Blu-ray set ($99.98 SRP); and a 15-disc DVD set ($78.92 SRP). The Blu-ray and DVD Trilogy sets include digital versions of the movies on Digital HD with UltraViolet. Fans can also own The Hobbit Trilogy Extended Edition via purchase from digital retailers.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies special features on Blu-ray and DVD
· Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter
· The Appendices – The Appendices Parts XI and XII showcase a chronological history of the filming of The Battle of the Five Armies, documenting the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects.
· New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth – Part 3