'Lord of the Rings' finale coming to DVD on May 25th

Posted Monday, March 8, 2004 at 11:53 AM Central

by John Couture

If you're looking to own this year's Oscar golden boy, it looks like you won't have to wait long. New Line Home Entertainment announced today that The Return Of The King, the final installment of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, will debut on VHS and DVD on May 25th, 2004.

The two disc DVD will be available in both Full Screen and Widescreen formats and contain hours of behind-the-scenes features, TV spots, trailers and more. After a clean sweep at the Academy Awards, including Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, The Return Of The King will also be included in a gift set of all three theatrical cuts of The Lord Of The Rings movies that will be available on May 25th.

An extended version of The Return Of The King is in the works and should be available in time for the holidays at the end of the year. The running time on the extended version is said to clock in at 4 hours and 10 minutes for the movie alone. A Collector's Gift Set is also on its way, but the special collectible figure has not been revealed yet.

There is no confirmation from New Line concerning a collection of all three Extended versions of the film.