Defying both logic and reason, an Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — already one of the most unnecessarily protracted films of all time — will be released later this year.
"I'm thrilled that the Extended Edition will give fans the opportunity to experience certain key scenes in the film as they were originaly shot, as well as an abundance of special features," said director Peter Jackson, the only man on earth who could possibly think this was a good idea.
"It's exciting to present this expanded and enriched version of An Unexpected Journey to allow fans to fully immerse themselves in the movie, before seeing the second part of the trilogy."
Each film in Jackson's Hobbit trilogy is expected to run for roughly three hours; all three are based upon one children's book. We'd say they've been expanded and enriched plenty enough already. (But hey, at least the frame rate's not getting any higher.)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition will be available as a 7-disc Blu-ray 3D set, because of course it will. It's available on digital download from October 22; if you'd rather not use up your monthly download limit on one film, you can wait for the Blu-ray and DVD releases on November 20.