Created by director Peter Jackson, this version of the Academy Award®-winning worldwide phenomenon features approximately 30 minutes of additional footage and scenes, thoroughly integrated into the original theatrically released version of the film. (The theatrical version of the film was made available on VHS and DVD on August 6th.) Composer Howard Shore has returned to his original, Academy-Award®-winning The Lord of the Rings score and recorded fifty minutes of new music with the London Philharmonic for this special extended edition; and the visual effects artists at Weta Digital have contributed all new effects shots.

In addition to the three-and-a-half hour feature, presented on two discs with the enhanced picture and sound quality consumers have come to expect from New Line Home Entertainment, the four-disc Special Extended DVD Edition will also include two discs loaded with exclusive, never-before-seen supplemental material, available via multiple platform navigation systems. This cornucopia of one-of-a-kind features includes: director, cast, design and production team commentaries; production documentaries and interactive featurettes covering the film adaptation from “book to vision” and “from vision to reality” with no overlap of the content that appeared on the August disc – even the movie is different.

On the same day and date, New Line Home Entertainment will also release an exclusive, limited edition Collector’s DVD Gift Set. This must-have for The Lord of the Rings enthusiasts will feature the entire four-disc Special Extended Edition, the highly acclaimed National Geographic Beyond the Movie DVD featuring two previously unreleased featurettes and a photo gallery, and exclusive collectible Decipher game cards. This bounty of Fellowship goodness will be housed in elaborate box art conceived and illustrated by famed Tolkien artist Alan Lee, and includes custom designed Argonath DVD-ends sculpted by the Academy Award® - winning artists responsible for creating the visual effects seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and produced by licensee Sideshow Weta.

“New Line Home Entertainment is very proud to bring home viewers an even more comprehensive film experience,” says New Line Home Entertainment President and Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Einhorn. “The Special Extended Edition is a unique film experience, and is 30 minutes longer than the original theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It plunges viewers into the complex landscape of Middle-earth, and reveals to an even greater degree the faithful recreation of Tolkien’s world by Peter Jackson and his skilled team of artisans.”

Aragorn Sings Elvish, Bilbo Keeps a Journal, and Galadriel’s Gift-Giving
What can viewers expect from this three-and-a-half hour immersion in Middle-earth? Some of the long-rumored material included in the Special Extended Edition has already become legend, for example, Galadriel’s (Cate Blanchett) gift-giving scene. As the elves prepare to leave Rivendell, Elf Queen Galadriel bestows a special gift upon each of the nine members of the Fellowship. As readers of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic literary masterpiece know, these gifts take on added importance as the Fellowship members continue their journey in The Two Towers and, finally, The Return of the King.

Other additional scenes include: Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) writing a journal entry entitled “Concerning Hobbits,” which serves as a history of the Hobbits and their bucolic lifestyle; a new introduction of loyal Hobbit Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin); more footage from the Green Dragon Inn, with Peregrin “Pippin” Took (Billy Boyd), and Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) happily singing Hobbit songs; Sam and Frodo (Elijah Wood) witnessing the stately Exodus of the Elves on the road to Bree; Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) singing an Elvish ballad that adds back story to the implications of his love for Arwen (Liv Tyler); Aragorn beside his mother’s grave in Rivendell; an extended sequence of the Fellowship’s departure from Rivendell; pre-battle scenes in the Mines of Moria, explaining how the dwarves came to be in the mines; character material delving into the complicated relationship between elves and dwarves; and additional footage from the Fellowship’s climactic battle scene.

“Seeing Fellowship in this way is an ideal entry point for the forthcoming release of The Two Towers, since viewers of the Special Extended Edition will be able to carry additional information about the characters they learn here into the next film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy,” says Einhorn.

“One Ring To Rule Them All”
New Line Cinema’s highest grossing box office hit ever, the critically acclaimed, award-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has become nothing short of a worldwide phenomenon. Co-written and directed by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is based on the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy of Middle-earth, itself long revered as a literary and linguistic masterpiece. (Tolkien, a celebrated philologist, invented “Elvish,” a language with its own laws, roots, and inflections, while still a student at Oxford.)

One of the biggest box office smashes of 2001, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring appeared on over 150 national year-end critics’ top ten lists and led the movie award nominations season. In February 2002, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring received thirteen Academy Award® nominations --- making it one of the most honored films in Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences history.

Of its thirteen Academy Award® nominations --- including nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ian McKellen), and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published --- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring received four Oscars, tying for the most honored film of the evening: Achievement In Music In Connection With Motion Pictures (Howard Shore), Achievement In Cinematography (Andrew Lesnie), Achievement In Visual Effects (Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson), and Achievement In Makeup (Peter Owen and Richard Taylor).

Frodo is accompanied on his journey by a nine-member assemblage: the Fellowship of the Ring. They are: Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), a good wizard and mentor to Frodo; Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), a noble warrior and future king of Gondor; Boromir (Sean Bean), a fierce soldier of Gondor; Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) an ax-wielding dwarf; Legolas (Orlando Bloom), an expert elf archer; and Hobbits Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), Peregrin “Pippin” Took (Billy Boyd), and Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan).

The Fellowship is aided in their quest by Elf Princess Arwen (Liv Tyler), Elf Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), and Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving), whose knowledge of the One Ring brings to light the true danger and importance of the Fellowship’s collective journey. Relentlessly pursued by Lord Sauron’s dark riders, marauding Orcs, cave trolls, and goblins summoned by evil wizard Saruman the White (Christopher Lee), the Fellowship must resist the one ring’s limitless powers of corruption. Shot entirely on location in majestic New Zealand, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ends as the Fellowship is disbanded.

The second film of the trilogy, The Two Towers, traces the journey of Frodo and Sam as they venture deeper into the land of the enemy --- with the mysterious Gollum serving as their guide --- while their companions in the Fellowship struggle to rescue the captured Hobbits Merry and Pippin.