Media Release - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Region 4 DVD release dates
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Roadshow Entertainment

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Arrives On DVD And VHS August 26th

Special Extended Edition To Follow in November

Sydney, Australia (April 28, 2003) Roadshow Entertainment today announced the DVD and VHS release of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The central film in Peter Jackson’s motion picture trilogy epic adventure of good against evil, The Fellowship that was formed in The Fellowship of the Ring faces unimaginable armies and lethal deception while also witnessing ancient wonders and the untapped strength of the peoples of Middle-earth.

The award-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will be available to purchase on DVD and Video, and to rent on August 26. Similar to last year’s resoundingly successful multi-tiered platform release, the August 26 theatrical release of The Two Towers will be followed by a distinctly different four-disc Special Extended DVD Edition in November 2003.

TOWERING DISCS OF DVD FEATURES

In addition to the theatrical version of the film, the second disc of the DVD will premiere an exclusive ten-minute behind-the-scenes sneak preview look at The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final film in the trilogy due in theatres December 2003. The second disc also includes actor Sean Astin’s (Sam) short film, The Long And Short Of It, and the “making-of” documentary of Astin’s short film. Also featured is “Gollum's Song” music video by Emiliana Torrini, a preview of Electronic Arts’ Video Game, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and a first look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

“The stunning achievement of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring two tiered DVD release in 2002 was both applauded and supported by the Australian DVD audience making it our biggest selling DVD of all time. Peter Jacksons two unique versions of The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers will be proudly distributed for New Line Home Entertainment by Roadshow Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand and promises to once again delight the eager fans with the offering.” says Roadshow Entertainment Managing Director Mr Chris Chard.

“Tower”-ing Above The Competition The power of The Lord of the Rings continues to grow: The Two Towers’ worldwide theatrical box office surpassed that of The Fellowship of the Ring, licensed merchandise sales increased exponentially, The Lord of the Rings book titles remain prominently on The New York Times bestseller list, and the DVDs of The Fellowship of the Ring proved to be the highest selling DVD of 2002 in Australia and the US.

With current US box office receipts at $337 million, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers set records for the highest-grossing December domestic opening weekend ($62 million, Friday-Sunday), highest-grossing one-day worldwide gross ($42 million), and highest-grossing Christmas Day box office ($12.4 million). The film currently ranks number seven on the list of all-time biggest US motion picture box office hits and number five in worldwide box office.

In Australia The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was the main driver in the most profitable weekend in Australian cinema history (includes all films). It broke several records including; The largest opening weekend - The opening weekend of $14.11 million easily passed the $11.96 million take of previous champ Attack of The Clones by 18%. The largest opening day - $5.25 million rocketing past the previous best $4.1 million scored by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring the same day a year ago. The largest single day in box office history. The largest ever second day. The largest ever Thursday. The largest ever Friday - excelling the previous best of $2.4 million, also previously held by Fellowship. The largest amount of pre-booked tickets. The largest ever average dollars per screen - The Two Towers collected an absolutely stunning $33,291 per theatre. This easily surpassed previous record holder Attack of The Clones' $26,187

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Film Synopsis
At the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, following the death of Boromir (Sean Bean) and the plunge into the pit at Khazad-dûm by Gandalf The Grey (Sir Ian McKellen), The Fellowship disbanded. Though splintered into three groups, the members of the original nine-member assemblage are no less determined to fulfill Frodo’s heroic quest. . .

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers begins in the hills of Emyn Muil, where lost Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) discover they are being followed by the mysterious and extraordinarily rendered Gollum (Andy Serkis). A mercurial creature who has been warped by his proximity to the Ring, Gollum promises to guide the Hobbits to the Black Gates of Mordor.

Across Middle-earth Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the Elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) encounter the besieged Kingdom of Rohan, whose once great King Theoden (Bernard Hill) has fallen under the deadly spell of evil wizard Saruman The White (Christopher Lee) through the machinations of his spy, the sinister Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the niece of the King, recognizes a leader in Aragorn, and though the warrior finds himself drawn to her, Aragorn is constantly reminded of his enduring love for the Elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) and the pact they’ve made. Gandalf, reborn as Gandalf the White following his cataclysmic battle with the Balrog, reminds Aragorn of his destiny to unite the people of Rohan with Gondor, the last remaining stronghold of Human resistance. . .

Meanwhile, the captured Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) escape from their monstrous Uruk-hai captors and, fleeing into the mysterious Fangorn Forest, discover an unexpected ally among the ancient trees---Treebeard (voiced by Rhys- Davies), a living, walking, talking tree-shepherd, among the oldest creature in Middle-earth, whose forest Saruman has decimated. . .

In their parallel journeys, the Fellowship will stand against the powerful forces spreading from the Two Towers -- Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where Saruman has bred a lethal army of 10,000 strong; and Sauron’s fortress at Barad-dûr, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers culminates in the astonishing battle for the refuge Helm’s Deep: the Kingdom of Rohan’s ancient large stone fortress, besieged by Uruk-hai warriors.

ABOUT ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT Roadshow Entertainment is a dynamic leader in the distribution of rental and retail video and DVD in the Asia-Pacific marketplace.

With exclusive Australian and New Zealand distribution agreements for ABC Enterprises and BBC Worldwide, Roadshow Entertainment also represents some of the industry’s leading high profile movie suppliers such as New Line Cinema and Village Roadshow Pictures.

Roadshow Entertainment was the first distributor in the world to release PAL DVD in October 1997, with the movie EVITA starring Antonio Banderas and Madonna.

With an ongoing commitment to investment in new technologies and applications to expand and improve the efficiency of the distribution process, Roadshow Entertainment is recognised as a retail innovator, continually working to develop new processes and systems to meet its customers’ needs.

* At time of writing DVD content subject to change.