Polish up that ring you've been keeping secret and safe because Fathom Events and Warner Bros. Pictures are re-releasing the extended edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in theaters for a limited time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, according to Deadline. I'll just pause here for a second to let you digest how old that makes you.
The 2003 film, the third in the trilogy based on the works of author J.R.R. Tolkien, was directed by Peter Jackson from a script from Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. It starred Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Sean Astin as Samwise, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Billy Boyd as Pippin, Dominic Monaghan as Merry, John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, and Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum. It won an Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as 10 others that year, tying with "Titanic" and "Ben-Hur" for the all-time record.
"The Return of the King" completes one of the best-loved film trilogies of all time, and with the Amazon series "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" coming back in the near future with season 2 (and likely more movies on the way), it's time to do a rewatch of the first films at home (they're streaming on HBO Max), with the final celebration of seeing the conclusion on the big screen once again.
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"The Return of the King," which took in over $1.1 billion at the box office when it was released, is even better when you watch the extended editions. That's my opinion as a Tolkien fan, yes, but it's hard to argue this one. This is a powerful story, which sees Frodo and Samwise heading to Mordor to throw the evil One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, with Sméagol/Gollum by their side, as Aragorn works to reclaim his kingdom.
If you want to take part in the event, "The Return of the King" will be shown in theaters in the United States on Thursday, April 13, 2023, and Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at 7 p.m. (in each time zone). It will also be shown at 7 p.m. in Canadian theaters on Thursday, April 20, 2023. If that isn't enough to stir you and your own Fellowship to watch, the outlet reports that Elijah Wood will do a special introduction about what the film and the world of Tolkien have meant to entertainment. Not only that, but a "celebrity panel" will reportedly play a new "Lord of the Rings" tabletop game to raise money for the "Extra Life For Kids fundraising program, in conjunction with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals."
You can get tickets for the journey at the box office for your selected theater. A list of participating theaters is available on FathomEvents.com. As Frodo and Sam know, you must be as prepared as you can be for a long journey, so keep in mind that the extended edition of this film is four hours and ten minutes long. Maybe skip the extra large soda.
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The post The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King's Extended Edition Trekking Back to Theaters For 20th Anniversary – Here's Why You Should Go appeared first on /Film.