It’s been a guessing game for the last several months about the official release date for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition on Blu-ray Disc. Now, Warner Bros. has officially announced the edition will hit stores on Tuesday, November 17th. The disc editions will be preceded by a Digital HD release of the film on October 20th.
The extended edition will include an additional twenty minutes of film, as well as more than nine hours of new bonus material such as “The Appendices,” commentary with Peter Jackson and co-producer/writer Philippa Boyens, and “New Zealand: Home of Middle Earth – Part 3” (see details below). The extended version will be available in both 2D and 3D Blu-ray formats, in 3-disc and 5-disc editions, respectively.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition on Blu-ray disc is formatted in 1080p at 2.4:1 aspect ratio with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound.
Special features include:
- Commentary with director/producer/writer Peter Jackson and co-producer/writer Philippa Boyens
- 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
Let’s not forget that the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies may be coming to a theater near you, about a month earlier than the Blu-ray Disc releases.
