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Warner and Peter Jackson: BFFs
October 27, 2008

It's true, Warner is committed to releasing Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray. 
During a Friday studio tour with members of the Home Theater Forum, Warner restoration guru George Feltenstein explained, "We are talking with Peter Jackson about plans for a Lord of the Rings release in the near future."
This latest LOTR acknowledgment is a nice exclamation point to earlier marketing teasing within the October Blu-ray release of Poltergeist. An insert inside that disc hinted that the franchise's first Fellowship of the Ring installment was 'Coming Soon.' 
Feltenstein didn't give away much detail, but he offered some good tidits. Jackson, who directed all three films in the franchise, is re-teaming with the same producers he worked with on the acclaimed standard DVD release of the LOTR series. He also promised "lots of new content" that hasn't been available on earlier LOTR releases.
"All things were handled wonderfully on traditional DVD, and there will be the same level of integrity [for the Blu-ray version]," Feltenstein added.
Warner also plans to give the deluxe Blu-ray treatment to The Wizard of Oz when it is released in 2009, timed to its 70th anniversary. The studio recently released a pristine standard DVD restoration of the film in 2005, but the title will somehow manage to one up itself on Blu-ray, Feltenstein promised. There will be a new film master made expressly for its Blu-ray release.
"If the studio puts out a slightly old master, that may not fly with certain people," he said. "This will be a brand new transfer that's superior to previous transfers."
Similar to LOTR, Wizard of Oz will also boast format exclusive content.

Posted by Susanne Ault on October 27, 2008 | Comments (1)