The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will be released in no less than four versions this year. On 8/6, separate widescreen and pan & scan versions will be released, each a two-disc set with identical extra features. Disc one includes the film presented in English Dolby Digital Surround EX and Dolby 2.0 surround (sorry, no DTS). Disc two is where all the goodies are at, and retail will be $29.95 for either the pan & scan or widescreen editions.

Then, on 11/12, New Line will release a mega four-disc set, with a new extended cut of the film created by Peter Jackson himself, and featuring over 30 minutes of additional footage. This cut of the film will be Rated R due to some extended violence, and no retail price has yet been set for this release. The now nearly four-hour film will be spread over the first two discs and presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (alas, no sound format information is yet available.) Unfortunately, all the supplements for the 4-disc set are still in production, so final details were not revealed. However, the disc is planned to include 3 audio commentaries and another four hours of bonus material. It is also not yet known if all the features on the "standard" two-disc set edition will also be included here.