Meet The Hobbit Artists

Meet several of the artists who worked on The Hobbit and learn more about what they’re up to, along with several other talented folks at Weta, including Greg Broadmore and the comedic antics of Daniel Falconer! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Meet the Hobbit Artists]

Collectibles

Meet the lads! From Bridge Direct Toys to our very own Elessar and Weta’s Senior Model Maker David Tremont, learn a bit more about collecting and miniature-making… and have plenty of laughs along the way. These guys are a kick! Read David Tremont’s story of creating Barad-Dur here: http://www.wetanz.com/the-making-of-barad-dur-article-series-by-david-tremont/  [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Collectibles]

Badali Jewelry

Check out Badali’s latest Lord of the Rings/Hobbit jewelery and find out more about the stories behind each piece! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Badali Jewelry]

The Hobbit Extended Edition

Hear a little bit about the upcoming DVD/Blu ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and glimpse what Comic-Con is like long after the crowds have departed! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Extended Edition Teaser and Farewell]

Meeting Evangeline Lilly

And of course, the completion of “Hobbitception!” [Hobbitception: Meeting Evangeline Lilly]

You can join in the fun at the Happy Hobbit Facebook page!

Join Kili, Fili, and several surprise guests to learn how to camp like a Dwarf! [Happy Hobbit: Dwarven Camping Tips - Episode 21]

Let’s dive right in and look at the goodies that are going to be on the discs.

The Filmmakers’ Commentary. Director/writer/producer Peter Jackson and writer/co-producer Philippa Boyens provide their perspective and stories on creating the first film.

New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth. From Matamata to Queenstown, travel with Peter Jackson and his team across the stunning locations of New Zealand, transformed by the filmmakers into Middle-Earth.

The Appendices Part 7: A Long-Expected Journey. A 14-part chronological history of the filming of An Unexpected Journey, covering pre-production in the various departments of the film in the months leading up to the start of principal photography, the boot camp training for the main cast, and the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects.

The individual chapters (and notice that a lot of them take titles from individual chapter of The Hobbit) include:

* The Journey Back to Middle-Earth
* Riddles in the Dark: Gollum’s Cave
* An Unexpected Party: Bag End
* Roast Mutton: Trollshaws Forest
* Bastion of the Greenwood: Rhosgobel
* A Short Rest: Rivendell and London
* Over Hill: The Misty Mountains
* Under Hill: Goblin Town
* Out of the Frying Pan: The Forest Ledge
* Return to Hobbiton: The Shire
* The Epic of Scene 88: Strath Taieri
* The Battle of Moria: Azanulbizar
* Edge of the Wilderland: Pick-ups and the Carrock
* Home Is Behind, the World Is Ahead

The Appendices Part 8: Return to Middle-Earth. Another selection of documentaries and featurettes await, further detailing the development, design and production of An Unexpected Journey:

The Company of Thorin. Explores the characters and backgrounds of the five families of dwarves and the company of actors chosen to play Thorin’s company on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain. Chapters include:

* Assembling the Dwarves
* Thorin, Fili and Kili
* Balin and Dwalin
* Oin and Gloin
* Dori, Nori and Ori
* Bifur, Bofur and Bombur

Mr. Baggins: The 14th Member. A revealing look at the film’s charismatic and talented lead actor, Martin Freeman.

Durin’s Folk: Creating the Dwarves Reveals the journey and process of designing, conceptualizing and physically realizing the dwarves in The Hobbit.

The Peoples and Denizens of Middle-Earth. Focuses on the realization of new characters and creatures encountered in the first film, from casting to characterization to physical and digital design. Chapters include:

* The Stone Trolls
* Radagast the Brown
* Goblins
* Azog the Defiler

Realms of the Third Age: From Bag End to Goblin Town. Follows the creation of the Middle-Earth locations from conceptual design to set and prop building to fully digital realities. Realms explored include:

* Hobbiton
* Rhosgobel
* The Misty Mountains
* Goblin Town

The Songs of The Hobbit. A look at the realization of Tolkien’s songs in An Unexpected Journey.

Pre-order your copy of the AUJ: EE at Amazon

The AUJ EE is already available for pre-order over on Amazon.com in a few different flavours — the collector’s edition gift set with bonus WETA statue, a Blu-ray 3D version and normal, non-3D Blu-ray edition.

Bootnote: We believe that the numbering of the EE appendices begins from seven because it carries on from the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, which had six appendices on the extra DVD discs.

Alternative theory is that Tolkien also had six appendices for the LOTR books (labelled from A to F), but that seems much less likely.

Order your gift set via this link: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition with Amazon Exclusive Bilbo/Gollum Statue (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + UltraViolet)

5-Disc Specs: 5 Disc BD: BD 1: 3D Ext Edition Feature + NZ Trailer BD 2: 3D Ext Edition Feature BD 3: 2D Ext Edition Feature + Filmmaker’s Commentary BD 4: • “The Appendices Part 7 – A Long Expected Journey: The Chronicles of The Hobbit – Part 1” • “The Appendices Part 8 – Return to Middle-Earth: Creating the World of The Hobbit” UV Copy of Ext Edition

Statue Specs: “Riddles in the Dark” was sculpted by Gary Hunt from Weta Workshop. Gary is part of the wider Weta team who worked on the film. The figurine is approximately 2.07 lbs. Size: 8” wide, 5.25” deep and 7” tall. The outer giftset box is illustrated by the film’s concept artists Alan Lee and John Howe. -

UPDATE: You can also get the gift set with regular Blu-ray (non-3D) via this link right here. The product details are nearly the same with a slightly smaller price for those who don’t have and will not have 3D televisions in the future. (The 3D version comes with a regular Blu-ray version also.)

[Gift Set] [Blu-Ray 3D + Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet] [Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition

In a press release from Warner Bros., Peter Jackson said of the new edition:

“I’m thrilled that the Extended Edition will give fans the opportunity to experience certain key scenes in the film as they were originally shot, as well as an abundance of special features,” said Jackson. “It’s exciting to present this expanded and enriched version of ‘An Unexpected Journey’ to allow fans to fully immerse themselves in the movie, before seeing the second part of the trilogy.” 

Each of the three films in Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings,” trilogy received a deluxe Extended Edition treatment around November after a December theatrical release and for many fans those longer cuts of the films are the definitive versions. Also widely loved are the extras on those editions which stand, even for non-Tolkien / Jackson fans, as among the elite extras on any film ever released. With the deflation of the home video market, extras on film releases are definitely trending downward in quality and quantity as studios see less or no return on the investment to put added value on the discs but that does not seem to be the case here.

The Two Towers Extended Edition

The released box art of the EEs is not what many readers of TheOneRing.net hoped for. Nothing is exactly wrong with the shot of Bilbo Baggins holding his sword Sting and looking a bit worried against a generic forest background, but it feels standard and bland on a version of the film that consumers want to be special. Each of the LOTR films was a different solid color with the film’s title in gold with appropriate and subtle Tolkien-esque markings around the box. In fact, the packaging was virtually flawless for those films, matching the high standard of content. A non-staff story about this subject was posted just this week.

In fairness, those titles were a different studio’s release (part of New Line Cinema’s Platinum Series) and this is a different commercial era for home video. With a declining market it is easy to see why a studio would want any consumer, especially casual ones, to know immediately what film they are looking at on a store shelf. However, these Extended Editions may well get lost among the regular editions instead of stand out as distinct and prestigious. This writer doesn’t speak for TORn, but I am disappointed.

Still, it is a solid bet that viewers are much more concerned with what is on the inside of the box and call it a hunch, with the production video blogs setting the standard, this content will delight consumers. This is a good time for the public to demonstrate to film studios how much we do care about excellent content to go with fan-favorite films on home video releases. If sales aren’t stellar, who knows what the fate of the next two films’ extended editions might be.

TheOneRing.net will review the Extended Edition and the added content as soon as it becomes available to us. We will also keep readers updated with different added-value incentives from big retailers, if any are available. The entire press release is presented below after a clip from the extended edition.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY EXTENDED EDITION

A PRODUCTION OF NEW LINE CINEMA
AND METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES,
ARRIVES ON DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ON
OCTOBER 22TH AND ON BLU-RAY 3DTM,
BLU-RAY™ AND DVD NOVEMBER 5TH FROM
WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Features a 13-Minute Longer Cut and 
 Nearly Nine Hours of New Special Features
Burbank, Calif., July 31, 2013 – Fans of Middle-earth will have the opportunity to gain a broader experience of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, when the epic fantasy adventure is released as an Extended Edition on Digital Download October 22nd and on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on November 5th from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE). A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, this new cut includes 13 minutes of extra film footage that extends individual scenes, making this the must-see, definitive version for fans. All disc versions of the Extended Edition include nearly nine hours of new bonus features and will be available just ahead of the December 13 theatrical release of the second film of the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

“I’m thrilled that the Extended Edition will give fans the opportunity to experience certain key scenes in the film as they were originally shot, as well as an abundance of special features,” said Jackson. “It’s exciting to present this expanded and enriched version of ‘An Unexpected Journey’ to allow fans to fully immerse themselves in the movie, before seeing the second part of the trilogy.” 
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition will be available as a 5-disc Blu-ray 3D set ($54.98 SRP) that features the Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray versions of the Extended Edition; a 3-disc Blu-ray ($35.99) and a 5-disc DVD ($34.99) The Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD all include UltraVioletTM which allows consumers to download and instantly stream the Extended Edition in high definition to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.* 
The nearly nine hours of new special features boasts audio commentary with Peter Jackson, director/producer/screenwriter, and Philippa Boyens, co-producer/screenwriter, and “The Appendices,” a multi-part documentary focusing on various aspects of the film and the Trilogy. Complete special feature details are provided below.
The first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was nominated for three Academy Awards®1.

SYNOPSIS

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated trilogy adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the Goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him; he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities…A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
The screenplay for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), Present a WingNut Films Production, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. All three films in The Hobbit Trilogy, also including The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the final film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures handled worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution handled by MGM.

ALL-NEW SPECIAL FEATURES ON BLU-RAY 3D, BLU-RAY AND DVD:

Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter
The Appendices – A multi-part chronological history of the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, covering pre-production in the various departments of the film in the months leading up to the start of principal photography, the boot camp training for the main cast, 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

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition
Street Date: November 5, 2013
Order Due Date: October 1, 2013
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 184 mins.
Blu-ray 3D: $54.98 SRP
Blu-ray: $35.99 SRP
DVD: $34.99 SRP

Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.

Blu-ray Disc™ and Blu-ray™ and the logos are the trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association.
Warner Home Video Blu-ray Discs offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color and beautifully crisp sound. The format also provides a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.

ULTRAVIOLET

*UltraViolet allows you to collect watch and share movies and TV shows in a whole new way.  Available with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs, DVDs and Digital Downloads, UltraViolet lets you create a digital collection of movies and TV shows.  Services such as Flixster and VUDU allow you to instantly stream and download UltraViolet content across a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.  Restrictions and limitations apply.  Go to www.ultraviolet.flixster.com/info for details.  For more information on compatible devices go to wb.com/ultravioletdevices.

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WB Ultra.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and distribution of film and television content globally.  The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television content.  In addition, MGM has investments in domestic and international television channels. For more information, visit www.mgm.com

WITH the theatrical home video release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the audiences witnessed something unique. Whereas usually a title gets released with a similar cover design throughout the world, the amount of different cover artworks, package types and release dates for TH:AUJ was overwhelming and distracting. The release date was somewhere between March (USA) and May (Australia, NZ) — more than a month’s span! Also, almost each country had its own cover artwork as well as additional editions (four steelbook editions in France alone!).

Despite this diversity of packaging, the release per-se made a rather cheap impression. The menu was just some uninspired collage with static subscreens, as opposed to the excellent LOTR TE DVD menus. Menus on non-US-releases were even worse: they had purple all-purpose buttons and Arial font on the menu points overlayed. The disc labels were simple black for the most countries AUJ was released in.

As far as the SEE is concerned, we already have an announcement for a UK steelbook box, which for me is a clear hint that Warner Bros. still has no idea how to market this film, and is likely to continue the same approach with a multitude of different editions, packagings etc.

If you remember the theatrical DVDs for The Lord of the Rings, they all were quite similar in design. Also, they were released on a single day worldwide, even though the release was handled by many small release independent companies (as opposed to Warner Bros. who owns The Hobbit almost worldwide). They also had all the same menu designs.

As I think, the basic idea behind the menu and package design of LOTR TE / LOTR SEE on DVD was to give the audience a feeling of an “exquisite framing” for the content by assessing what the makers of the discs would like to see themselves. For instance, animated menus can be very annoying if you have to navigate through several screens of them, and have overlong transitions between these screens. On LOTR the transitions are still there but they are meticulously timed to be not intrusive. And the menus are done in such a stylish and elegant way that it is a joy just watching them.

Also, considering the package design: if anyone still owns the LOTR SEE DVD (as I do) — they are still a pleasure to hold in the hand, a truly elegant design made for collectors. (There was some difference between the normal SEE editions and giftset SEE editions in Europe where the normal SEE was made of thinner cardboard — however, the design and the gold lettering were still the same). And the SEE is, in fact, targeted at collectors as opposed to the majority who is just happy with the TE.

What I suggest:

There should be just one great design for the SEE, like it was the case with the LOTR SEE DVD editions. Or two variations of this design — for there should be a LOTR-like giftset as well. One which would deserve this name.

This package design should mirror the design of the available LOTR SEE DVDs (not the BluRays, mind you – they suck in comparison).

The menus should reflect the same approach the LOTR SEEs used to have. Michael Pellerin is already involved in the documentaries — let him do the production for the SEE as well! The menus of the LOTR SEE DVDs were state of the art in terms of elegance, the amount of thought put into programming and the structuring of the bonus features. Although animated, the menus were never annoying.

Also, there should be no qualitative difference between English-language menus and non-English menus — that’s cheap.

By doing this, Warner Bros. would show:
* That the label actually knows what it does when it tries to market The Hobbit;
* That it recognizes that the target area for the SEE are collectors who mind such aspects;
* That it cares about giving the target audience what it wants: excellent content put into an exquisite framing;
* That the label releasing the SEE is not cheap.

TheHutt runs the Russian language LOTR and Hobbit site Henneth-Annun.ru. His opinions do not necessarily constitute those of TheOneRing.net or its staff.

Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, Sydney Australia – Wednesday 1st May, 2013
Introduced by: Chris Murray (Creative Director Popcorn Taxi)
Hosted by: Oscar Hillerstrom from Popcorn Taxi
by: Deleece Cook on behalf of theOneRing.net

The cheering began as soon as Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray walked out on stage to open the event. There wasn’t a spare seat to be had at The Orpheum Theatre at Cremorne for the exclusive screening of The Hobbit and the live on Stage Q&A appearance with Richard Armitage.

700 smiling excited Thorin Fans were in the audience – and they had come from all over Australia for the event – this is what they had been waiting for hours to see. And it didn’t disappoint. It was a wonderful night of entertainment and surprises – Richard was a talkative guest; relaxed, smiling and laughing through the interview and he tried as best as he could to answer every question put to him from the fans, and from the host Oscar Hillerstrom.

Here’s how the night went – plenty of laughter and cheering and just a great vibe all round!…

Chris Murray: “Good Evening! Do I need to ask how you’re doing? Um, I’ve never been to an underwear sale at David Jones but I suppose this is the closest thing. Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Chris Murray and I am the Creative Director of Popcorn Taxi. It gives me no greater pleasure and enormous privilege to have you here tonight to see on the big screen The Hobbit. But not only that I know why you’re here… Richard Armitage on that seat ladies and Gentlemen”

Mad applause.

Chris Murray:  “Yes, you get the chance to ask him questions – I get the chance to curl into a small ball and rock backwards and forwards in the corner.”

More laughter… Then Chris laid down some house rules regarding soft toys and portraits not coming anywhere near the stage, but he mentioned nicely that questions were welcomed from the audience.
Then the first surprise of the night was announced…

Chris Murray: We are celebrating a fantastic film, and that film is out on Blu-ray and DVD today (mad applause)… “Yes! You should buy it! Warner Bros will love me! But, what’s not on that Blu-ray and what’s not on that DVD is what I’m about to play for you now. We have 12 minutes of a little behind the scenes that you will not see anywhere else. (lots of gasps) After that, you’ll get to meet Mr Richard Armitage.

Mad cheering!

Chris Murray: So enjoy the 12 minutes and relax – get the wetness out of the seats – whatever works for you – and I’ll be back! Please enjoy this event.

The sound of the cheering audience was amazing! Then silence. The lights lowered and the huge screen lit up… and then there was Peter…

Peter Jackson: “You want the Hobbit to be a visual experience that goes several steps beyond Lord of The Rings”

And that familiar drone of singing Dwarves speaking of “Pines and Mountains cold” echoed through the theatre – every eye was glued to the screen… it was more than 12 minutes of magic!

The film covered races and character that we see in the An Unexpected Journey – with snippets of comments from the actors and crew members. It shortly gave a brief explanation of the storyline and highlighted some of the production values and costuming as well.

In no particular order – Here are just some of the presenters on the clip, and what they had to say…
____
Peter Jackson: “When we made Lord of the Rings I was absolutely sure that was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. I never realized that ten years later I’d be doing it all over again – and we actually shot the 266 days on The Hobbit which was exactly the same number of days we shot on Lord of The Rings, so I’ve sort of done the once in a lifetime experience twice now (laughs) not a third time – there won’t be a third time”

Peter Jackson: “10 years ago it was Ian playing the character of Gandalf and no one had seen any of the movies, and now that’s an iconic figure. That’s Gandalf.”

Peter Jackson: “The same creative talent. 20 or 30 of the most senior people were Lord of The Rings veterans”

Peter Jackson: “The thing that’s so incredible about Martin is that he’s always exploring, he’s experimenting, he’s always trying to figure out where Bilbo’s truth is”

Peter Jackson: “One of the scary things about adapting The Hobbit is the fact that there’s 13 dwarves – and differentiating those characters was important.”

Philippa Boyens: “I remember the day when I knew we were back in Middle-Earth. I walked over to the costume room and there was Gandalf. And I suddenly thought… We’re Back.”

Philippa Boyens: (about Dwarves): “In the end Pete fell in love with each and every one of those characters. And as much as there is a little bit of Dwarf in Peter I think there’s a little bit of Peter in all those Dwarves.”

John Howe: “I imagine that Peter will do for Dwarves what he did for Elves because he is going to give them much more density, much more history.”

Martin Freeman: (talking about his character Bilbo) “… We join Bilbo as the book of The Hobbit does, as a home faring solitary Hobbit. …certain things struck me about him suggested a certain timidity and a lot of life…”

Elijah Wood: “You’ll get taken on an amazing ride”

Elijah Wood: “To have a chance to return, pop a wig on and feet it kind of feels like I’ve stepped into a time machine. And I get to meet all of these other actors who are coming along for the real long journey and sort of seeing in them a little bit of what we felt like when we started”

Elijah Wood: “A seed is being planted for what eventually comes the time period that we meet in Lord of The Rings”.

Christopher Lee: “Middle Earth seems to be just beginning to rumble and tumble”

Christopher Lee: “The White Council – they represent enormous power. There’s suspicion amongst all of them that there’s this building power of evil – getting stronger and stronger!”

Cate Blanchett: (on Gandalf in the film): “What makes Gandalf the most wonderful hero is the courage against popular opinion. He gets to move on into the darkness that no one else is prepared to go into.”

Hugo Weaving: “Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, they play a role in eliminating those [forces?] from the political landscape.”

Ian McKellen: (on his character Gandalf regarding the appendices) “ Gandalf in The Hobbit; he is off and away doing other business and quite what that is, is not revealed in the novel. In the films we get to see what Gandalf was up to.”

Ian McKellen: “It’s magic. It’s pure magic. And you’ll believe it.”

The sound of the Dwarves was heard and the film ended with the audience cheering and clapping once more.

Then it was time for Richard Armitage to grace the Stage…

2-disc DVD edition of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

Despite mostly positive but mixed reviews and media reports of mediocre box office (which proved to be incorrect after its $302 million run in the U.S. and its more than $1 billion world-wide) the film is also impressive with its home-use sales figures. Warner Bros. promoted the initial sales with an exclusive look at this December’s “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug,” but that has come and gone while sales remain strong. We don’t mean to cheerlead for the film’s financial outcome and nobody from the studio is sending TheOneRing.net money, but some bad buzz lingers despite the film being embraced culturally and financially by viewers and it seems perception might not quite match reality. It will be fascinating to see if 48 fps, 3D and the decision to tell the book’s story over three films will remain a topic of media focus or if the film’s success and its impressive cast will shift into the spotlight.

You can read about this week’s sales figures at The Hollywood Reporter or travel back in time to see accounts of first week’s sales.

First of all, the packaging is beautiful.  The cardboard slip case has the lenticular image of Gandalf which we saw on one of Empire magazine’s covers. Underneath this slip case, the box has the same image on the front, with the back showing a small picture of Bilbo running off from the Shire, contract in hand, above the details of the contents.

This ‘combo pack’ is the five disc version: it contains the movie (over two discs) on 3D Blu-ray; one disc of the movie on 2D Blu-ray; one disc of the 2D DVD version; and one disc of ‘Special Features’.  These features are, as MrCere mentioned, the ten Production Videos which Peter Jackson published on his facebook page during the making of the film.  I agree with MrCere’s thought that, whilst this may not be adding anything new, it is very nice to have all these videos gathered in one place, where you can easily find them to watch them again and again.  One word of caution, however: if you are purchasing a Blu-ray combo pack with the thought that you will get a Blu-ray player ‘one day’ and in the meantime will watch the film on the DVD which comes in the set, note that the Special Features disc is a Blu-ray, not a DVD.

As with all the different versions available for purchase, this pack also comes with details on how to access your ‘UltraViolet’ copy of the movie, so that you can download and stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to your various devices.

Sitting at my laptop in London, I haven’t been able to try out the Blu-ray discs, but I did watch the DVD last night.  The main menu shows footage from the film, playing on a loop; it starts with a zoom in on the map of Middle-earth, a shot of Bag End, and then the dwarves singing part of the Misty Mountains song. Following scenes include Bilbo running to join them on their journey, the trolls gathered around their fire, Radagast and his rabbits fleeing the orcs, and shots in Rivendell, Goblin Town and Gollum’s cave.  The montage ends with Bilbo drawing Sting for the first time; and then the loop starts again.

The movie is divided into thirty-two scenes, and the scene selection menu has part of the map of Middle-earth in the background.  The other menu choice from the main menu is for languages; the DVD can be played in English, French or Spanish, and has subtitles also in those languages.  The background for this menu is a picture of a pensive-looking Gandalf, seated by a tree and smoking his pipe.

As for the film - well, of course I love the film. It thrills me to hear that opening melody and to know I can now watch this movie whenever I like!  After all these years of waiting for The Hobbit, it seems even a little surreal to have these discs in my hands. I must confess, though, I rather wish that the home entertainment release could have been a little later; I’d like to have seen An Unexpected Journey in the cinema a few more times before I moved to a smaller screen!

The Blu-ray and DVD of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be available for you to take home in the US from March 19th; but if you just can’t wait that long, digital download (from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu) will be available from March 12th.  The hard copies (in whatever format you purchase) and digital downloads from ‘select digital retailers’ will come with a code which will enable viewers to watch the live stream of Peter Jackson’s sneak peek of the next movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  This will play live on March 24th at 3pm Eastern/noon Pacific time; so if you’re in the US and eager for a glimpse of the second part of the trilogy, (and let’s face it, if you’re reading TORn, you probably are eager for a glimpse!), be sure to get your copy of An Unexpected Journey before March 24th, so you’ll be ready to watch!  (MrCere’s article lists the April release dates for the Blu-ray and DVD in some other parts of the world; I’m told by Warner Bros. that codes for the sneak peek will be available outside the US – for example, possibly given to those who preorder a Blu-ray or DVD – but as yet there’s no confirmation on details for that.  We’ll let you know as soon as we hear!)

Finally  – as MrCere mentioned yesterday, the press release which came with this Blu-ray pack from Warner Bros. confirmed that this ‘home entertainment release will be followed by an Extended Edition available just in time for the holidays’.  Now THAT is something I can’t wait to see!

You can preorder this Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack here; or preorder the digital download here.