Any true The Lord of the Rings fan with a thirst for premium merchandise has surely wondered: Would there ever be one box set to rule them all? (That is, one that would feature both sets of movie trilogies from The Lord of the Rings franchise.) According to Amazon, it looks like one is coming. Maybe.
As io9 reports, a new listing appeared today for the “Middle-Earth Limited Collector’s Edition.” The expansive set holds 30 Blu-ray discs dressed in special packaging made to look like leather books, which can be stored on a Hobbit-style wooden shelf selected by director Peter Jackson himself. On top of the movies, the set also comes with a replica of the Red Book of Westmarch, which is filled with original film sketches, along with some new artwork and watercolor paintings by artists Alan Lee and John Howe.
The discs themselves are brimming with extended footage from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), The Return of the King (2003), An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). This is all on top of the already-released behind-the-scenes documentaries from past extended edition releases: The Hobbit Extended Edition Trilogy has nearly an hour of extra footage and more than 34 hours of theatrical and extended bonus content, while The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy has more than two hours of extended scenes and more than 33 hours of theatrical and extended bonus content.
The new box set is slated to go on sale October 4, but the price and image have since been removed from Amazon—and the studio has yet to confirm that it's coming. But the board is set, and the pieces are moving.