[Updated] Lord of the Rings Extended Editions Finally Coming to Blu-ray… June 28

No official date has been announced yet, but the highly anticipated Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions are finally coming to Blu-ray. Soon™. [June 28, to be exact.] And best of all, in addition to all of the bonus features from the EE DVDs (included here on DVD, as well, apparently), the Blu-ray set will also feature the rare Costa Botes making-of documentaries that were only available with the limited edition theatrical/extended combo DVD set. The Blu-rays are available for pre-order now from Amazon for $83.99 (with a list price of $119.98). Bonus features are listed as follows:

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Over 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the theatrical release of the film
Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
Commentary by the design team
Commentary by the production/post-production team
Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
Easter egg: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision (on DVD)

Peter Jackson introduction
J.R.R. Tolkein: Creator of Middle Earth
From Book to Script
Visualizing the Story
Designing and Building Middle Earth
Middle Earth atlas interactive

The Appendices, Part 2: From Vision to Reality (on DVD)

Elijah Wood introduction
Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
Visual effects
Post-production: Putting it all together
Digital Grading
Sound and music
The Road Goes Ever On…

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Extended edition of the film, incorporating 43 minutes of footage incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
Costas Botes documentary: The Two Towers — Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues

Peter Jackson introduction
J.R.R. Tolkein: Origin of Middle Earth
From Book to Script: Finding a Story
Designing and Building Middle-Earth
Gollum
Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)

The Appendices, Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth

Elijah Wood introduction
Filming The Two Towers
Visual effects
Editorial: Refining the Story
Music and Sound
The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Extended edition of the film, with 50 extra minutes incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Costas Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring

Peter Jackson Intro
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
From Book to Script
Designing and Building Middle-earth
Home of the Horse Lords
Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage

The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing of an Age

Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
Filming The Return of the King
Visual Effects
Post Production: Journey’s End
The Passing of an Age
Cameron Duncan

Via: [TheOneRing.net]

Pre-order from Amazon: [The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Limited Extended Edition + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]