You know, that crazy dwarf – king-to-be character – who was supposed to make an appearance in The Desolation of Smaug – but clearly didn’t. Upon seeing the first two films in The Hobbit trilogy, Thráin II (son of Thrór, father of Thorin Oakenshield) appears to be a rather key ingredient in the whole narrative – despite his lack of participation in the story.

Continue reading “Will Thráin be in the Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition? And, if so, what will he do?”

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition
“Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Extended Edition

Warner Bros. has responded to TheOneRing.net’s request for further information about “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Extended Edition after fans expressed confusion and reported the sets were difficult to find.

TORn’s news leader Demosthenes posted this article about the availability of  on DVD and Blu-ray to highlight the frustrations fans were bombarding TheOneRing.net with. Warner provided the following information for us to pass on to consumers:

“We are thrilled at the fan reaction to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition. We’ve been made aware that certain retail outlets are sold out, and we are working as quickly as possible to replenish stock so fans can get their copies on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD. We understand that there is some confusion regarding what product is available at each retailer and would like to provide clarification.

There are three products currently available at retailers nationwide:
* 5-disc Blu-ray 3D + Digital HD UltraViolet
* 3-disc Blu-ray + Digital HD UltraViolet
* 5-disc DVD + Digital UltraViolet

Please note that Target will have the Blu-ray and DVD available on December 1st.

In addition to the national product, several retailers have unique product offerings as follows:

Amazon.com
* 3-disc Blu-ray + Digital HD UltraViolet with Bilbo/Gollum Statue
* 5-disc Blu-ray 3D + Digital HD UltraViolet with Bilbo/Gollum Statue

Wal-Mart
* 2-disc DVD including Extended Edition Feature Film and Special Features “The Company of Thorin,” and “Durin’s Folk: Creating the Dwarves”

Best Buy
* 4-disc Blu-ray 3D Steelbook:
– Disc 1: Blu-ray 3D Extended Edition Feature Part
– Disc 2: Blu-ray 3D Extended Edition Feature Part 1
– Disc 3: The Appendices Part 7
– Disc 4: The Appendices Part”

Editorializing a bit: The Wal-Mart 2-disc DVD probably isn’t meant for TORn readers but it is a real pity that casual buyers will fork out money for that edition and never realize that for a relatively small amount more, a treasure trove of beyond-industry-standard content awaits. (A complete review coming soon.) The home video market isn’t what it used to be, but this is a landmark title that consumers I know, including even casual fans, expect to be of the same standard as the history making LOTR EE versions.  However it may serve some audiences perfectly and it may have been a way to manufacture and ship the DVDs early to impulse buyers.

By not flooding stores by Black Friday in the U.S., (an enormous retail day immediately following U.S. Thanksgiving) sales will be less than they could have been. On the other hand, many fans have echoed the same thought through social media and in our in boxes: If it takes longer to release the best possible version of film and extras, it is worth the wait. We will of course provide further information as it becomes available.

Check the gallery below to see the product specifics.

HobbitEE_1400x2100_US Physical (i.e.: Blu-ray 3D and DVD) copies of the Extended Edition of the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were supposed to go on sale in stores in the USA on November 5, with the UK follow on November 11.

But the journey from screen to store to the hands of fans has proved to be as challenging as Bilbo’s own adventure. Over the past couple of days, TORn has received numerous reports from perturbed fans via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

Fans report that the Extended Edition is unavailable at Target in all forms, difficult to find at Best Buy and Barnes & Noble (where you might grab a Blu-ray copy, but are unlikely to find the DVD), and that Amazon is temporarily out of stock of the DVD and shipments are being delayed by one to three days.

What’s going on? Well, we have reached out to Warner Bros. to find out what’s happening, and provide some firm answers. In the meantime, read our complete report on the issues that fans have been experiencing trying to get their hands on a copy of the EE — and a couple of things you need to be wary of lest you end up with a version that contains less than you expected! Continue reading “Trouble getting a physical copy of The Hobbit Extended Edition? You’re not alone.”

DVD_Big Hot on the heels of new, detailed descriptions of many of the scenes that we’ll be seeing in Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Ringer Heidi drop us the news about this cool German-language trailer.

Yes, it is dubbed into German. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any captions or sub-title options, so unless you know German (I don’t), you’re going to have to play guess that line. But you can still get a look at what you can expect to see once the Extended Edition hits stores — a digital download exclusively on iTunes from 22nd October, before becoming more made widely available on 4th November 4 (apparently Germans must wait until November 15? Ouch.) Continue reading “German-language trailer for the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey reveals new scenes!”

We are happy to share with you our complete coverage of the happenings at Comic-Con 2013! Check out the video series below!

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]

Continue reading “Happy Hobbit: Complete SDCC Coverage”

The Hobbit AUJ disc menu (non-US) The extended edition for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is, by now, well on the way. In this opinion piece, Ringer TheHutt offers his thoughts on how why the designers and creators at Warner Bros. should be taking their cues from the acclaimed success of The Lord of the Rings EEs, and not from the styling applied to AUJ’s theatrical edition.


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!). Continue reading “The AUJ SEE: Stop version madness and menu cheapness!”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.