The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is getting a standalone 4K Blu-ray Steelbook release on October 21. That means fans of Peter Jackson’s superb trilogy adaptation can now buy all three films with matching collectible cases featuring gorgeous cover art. Limited Edition Steelbooks for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers released earlier this year. As of August 14, all three Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K Steelbooks are in stock at Amazon. If you’re interested in owning a full set, we’d recommend snagging them as soon as possible, because these have sold out multiple times already and aren’t in stock at all retailers.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Steelbook Editions
If you don’t own any of the Steelbook Editions yet, you’d be spending $100 to get all three right now. That’s quite the deal, as these editions were previously only available in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Steelbook Collection for $170. The box set also comes with a metal display box, so you’re missing out on that by purchasing the movies individually. The slipcase probably isn’t worth $70 to most fans, though. Also, the standalone editions also include digital versions of the movies that can be added to your Movies Anywhere library.
$28 (was $35)
The Fellowship of the Ring’s Limited Edition Steelbook originally launched in January exclusively at Walmart. It sold out multiple times before and after launch, but thankfully it received a reprint in May to coincide with The Two Towers Steelbook release. It’s no longer exclusive to Walmart, and you can find it in stock at Amazon for a nice discount (at least for now).
This edition of The Fellowship of the Ring includes the theatrical and extended cuts on 4K Blu-ray and digital. The extended cut adds 30 minutes to the overall runtime and is spread across two discs.
- Theatrical Edition (Disc 1) – 178 minutes (2 hours and 58 minutes)
- Extended Edition (Discs 2-3) – 208 minutes (3 hours and 28 minutes)
The stylish cover design features silhouettes of Frodo and the other eight members of the Fellowship of the Ring as they embark on their journey to Mount Doom.
$37
The Two Towers Limited Edition Steelbook comes with 4K Blu-ray and digital versions of the middle entry in Jackson’s trilogy adaptation. The three-disc set has the original theatrical release and the extended cut, which adds 44 minutes to the runtime and is split across two discs.
- Theatrical Edition (Disc 1) – 179 minutes (2 hours and 59 minutes)
- Extended Edition (Discs 2-3) – 223 minutes (3 hours and 43 minutes)
The cover art for this edition features the tree-like creatures known as Huorns in Middle-earth.
$35 | Releases October 21
The Return of the King Limited Edition Steelbook will complete your set of Lord of the Rings collectible 4K Blu-rays. The epic conclusion to one of the best movie trilogies of all time tied the record for most Oscar wins with 11 statuettes, including for Best Picture.
The case art features Gollum with Mount Doom in the backdrop. The three-disc set includes the theatrical and extended cuts of Return of the King on 4K Blu-ray and digital.
The Return of the King’s extended edition adds 50 minutes to the runtime, making it one of the rare major films to eclipse the four-hour mark.
- Theatrical Edition (Disc 1) – 200 minutes (3 hours and 20 minutes)
- Extended Edition (Discs 2-3) – 251 minutes (4 hours and 11 minutes)
If you haven’t watched The Lord of the Rings on 4K Blu-ray, all three films (and The Hobbit Trilogy) look and sound beautiful. Along with upscaled 4K visuals, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King support Dolby Vision and HDR10 on compatible displays. The audio experience can be enhanced with Dolby Atmos or Dolby TrueHD 7.1 surround sound.
These are the only standalone 4K Blu-ray editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers in North America. Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations are typically printed as trilogy box sets on 4K Blu-ray and/or Blu-ray.
Although the new Steelbook Editions offer a budget-friendly way to get collectible versions of Peter Jackson’s excellent adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic, there are still cheaper ways to buy the films on 4K. Here’s a quick look at 4K Blu-ray releases of Jackson’s six Middle-earth movies.
Peter Jackson’s Tolkien Adaptations in 4K
The Hobbit Trilogy’s Steelbook Editions are only available as a box set, but it’s certainly possible standalone editions for those three prequel films could be next.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are also sold in various budget-friendly Blu-ray box sets. You can check those out along with other Middle-earth films like the recent Lord of the Rings anime and classic animated adaptations by clicking the button below. We created a custom Amazon hub collecting all of the notable 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD releases available today.
The Lord of the Rings Collectible Books & Box Sets
Lord of the Rings fans who are interested in adding collectible editions of Tolkien’s original novels to their shelves can save big on arguably the best-looking edition of The Lord of the Rings at Amazon. The Lord of the Rings: Deluxe Illustrated Edition is on sale for $148 at Amazon, which is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen.
Published last October with a staggering $325 price tag, this expanded edition of the beloved 1992 three-volume collection includes stunning hardcover editions of each part of LOTR accompanied by dozens of drawings and paintings by Alan Lee. More than 50 of the illustrations are new to the remastered edition.
Quarterbound leather and cloth board bindings make these editions feel and look quite beautiful. The covers have original artwork by Lee in the center, and all of the symbols and lettering on the front and spines are foil-stamped in silver. Each book has sprayed top and bottom edges as well as illustrated side edges. Those illustrations match Lee’s Mount Doom artwork found on the interior walls of the custom-designed cloth board slipcase. This handsome box set also comes with three art cards and two foldout maps created by Christopher Tolkien.
Before you pick up the Deluxe set, you’ll also want to take a look at the upcoming four-book hardcover set that includes The Hobbit. Like the Deluxe editions, these hardcovers are the editions with illustrations by Alan Lee. The covers and display case are fully illustrated, so this set has a decidedly different look. The $150 box set releases in the US on October 14, and you can preorder it now for $139.50. This same collection was published in the UK in 2020, and you can buy it from a reseller on Amazon for $89.
Alternatively, the more budget-friendly Lord of the Rings Collector’s Edition Hardcover Box Set is on sale for $59.79 at Amazon. All three volumes of The Lord of the Rings have foil-stamped cover art, stained edges, ribbon bookmarks, and maps on the inside of these elegantly bound hardcovers. You can also save big on each of the three volumes on their own as well as matching Collector’s Editions of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.
Fans can also get substantial discounts on the 2024 History of Middle-earth Hardcover Box Sets. With 15 books in total–including The Silmarillion–these four gorgeous collections compile the entirety of Tolkien’s legendarium, which the author’s son, Christopher Tolkien, edited and expanded to create the lengthy series now known as The History of Middle-earth.
Publisher William Morrow continued this decorative series of Tolkien box sets in June with Tolkien Myths and Legends, a four-book box set featuring two Tolkien works inspired by English literature and two books that Tolkien personally translated. On August 19, the sixth collection in the series, The Great Tales of Middle-earth, will be published. This set comes with Tolkien’s final three posthumously published Middle-earth novels: The Children of Húrin (2007), Beren and Lúthien (2017), and The Fall of Gondolin (2018). Both of these new Tolkien box sets are steeply discounted at Amazon and would look great displayed next to the upcoming Hobbit and LOTR Illustrated Box Set.
