Greetings — Quickbeam here.
The forthcoming “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” 6-film Blu-ray set of both LOTR and HOBBIT has caused much consternation among Ringers, eliciting strong reactions across the board. Several of our Staff have published their excellent viewpoints (my op-ed is here) and our community feels energized like it was 15 years ago.
Warner Bros. has offered no comment but the Oscar-winning director kindly responded to us at TheOneRing.net. After I asserted the history of how Appendices producer Michael Pellerin and Peter Jackson approached the studio a little less than two years ago desiring to create a very special combined edition with thoughtful retrospective documentaries and a boatload of goodies (but the studio declined) Peter had this to say:
“In addition there was the added difficulty of Warners needing to access the original negative and scan the outtakes, bloopers, and additional sequences. They declined to do this, which made Michael Pellerin and my original plans for the comprehensive documentary we hoped to produce for this box set, impossible to produce. Neither Michael nor myself are therefore involved in this release. Maybe Warners will support our planned documentary for the 25th anniversary, because we would love to make it one day.”
So there you have it. Perhaps we can still look forward to that “Unicorn Edition” in a faraway future — well actually 10 years — but only with the support and foresight of Warner Bros., the Overseer of the Middle-earth Saga.
What are your thoughts, Ringer fans?
Much too hasty,
Quickbeam
Clifford Broadway
Follow on Twitter: @quickbeam2000