Expect Extended Edition 3D Blu-Rays Of THE HOBBIT

Tim here with a "I could have told you this was coming." Reported out of theonering.net it turns out that three movies aren't enough to satisfy all the footage for The Hobbit. We're looking at Extended Editions of each as well, just as it was with The Lord of the Rings. No complaints because Extended Editions means more enjoyment for fans... and a push for 3DTV's and the 3D Blu-Rays!

Just like the LOTR DVDs the theatrical cuts will hit the DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digital Copy market first, followed by the Extended Editions a few months later. Expect the 3D Blu-Ray to also have the Extended Scenes in 3D. This will give more people incentive to purchase a 3DTV so that they can enjoy the Extended Editions as they were meant to be seen. However, will the digital copies also be 3D? It's not a hard leap for the iTunes digital copies to be available in 3D as through an AppleTV one can easily play a side-by-side squeeze on a 3DTV and have it interpreted as 3D. All Apple has to do is enable 3D in the iTunes Store. That's wishful thinking at this time. The Blu-Rays are guaranteed to be 3D at least.

Here's the storyline for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY:
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities… A simple, goldring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theaters on December 14^th worldwide. 

Rumor Confirmed! 10 Disc AVENGERS ASSEMBLED Blu-ray Collectors Set Being Prepped!

Remember that rumor about a 10 disc blu-ray collection for THE AVENGERS that was being bounced around a couple of weeks ago? DONE DEAL.

According to Amazon, the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled (10-Disc Limited Edition Six-Movie Collector's Set) will have the most recent 6 movies from Marvel and 3 of those movies will also have the 3D discs for those of you with 3D TVs at home. Namely, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and THE AVENGERS.

Here's what's included in the limited edition collection:


• Marvel’s The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray)
• The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray)
• Iron Man (Blu-ray)
• Bonus Disc - “The Phase One Archives” (Blu-ray)
• Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The AVENGERS ASSEMBLED 10 disc set does not have pricing yet, but I will let you know when that drops on July 15.

via /Film

New And Existing Playstation 3's Will Have 3D Blu-ray Support In September

Sony is raising the 3D bar once again! As you know, the Playstation 3 has 3D support for gaming through a firmware update that has already been made. That update did NOT have support for 3D movies on its blu-ray player however.

That is set to change in September. Sony will be releasing the next 3D update for Playstations and it will include support for playing 3D movies. Word is that 3D photo support is coming in a future release too. Sony is activating 3D across their product line and the new Cybershot DSC-TX9 will be able to grab those stereoscopic 3D photos for you.

Here is what Mick Hocking, Sony's worldwide 3D studio boss had to say:
"If you have a PlayStation 3 and you buy a 3DTV, you simply connect via your HDMI cable and your PlayStation 3 will automatically recognise that you've got a 3D display attached. It knows the size of the screen as well, which is very important for actually rendering 3D correctly and giving you the right sense of depth. And in our games you'll see the menu to play the game in 3D automatically. You don't have to press any buttons or go through any menus - it's all completely automatic and seamless, which is jolly good. We've launched four titles in June to support the 3D ready PS3 - and these are also bundled with our 3D Bravia TVs for free. If you've already purchased them [in 2D] from our PSN store, they're also free to download - or you can go along and buy them if you don't have them yet. There's Wipeout, Motorstorm, Super Stardust and PAIN - which involves throwing a character into scenery and hurting them as much as possible. All these are full games except for Motorstorm, which is a demo. In September this year, we're launching another Firmware upgrade - and this one is going to upgrade the PS3 to support Blu-ray movies in 3D. Again, you won't have to do anything - just connect your PS3. For the film market that's a very significant event. Then later in the year - we're not going to date it yet - the PS3 is going to support 3D photos. Of course the popularity of 3D isn't just going to come from movies and games. There's 3D cameras on the market, there's 3D camcorders coming on the market in the next 12 months as well, and 3D broadcasts. Crucially for us, PlayStation 3 will be able to store all types of 3D content. And we can do this through properly upgrading the Firmware on the platform. So you'll see 3D games in the next 12 months, you'll see Blu-ray movies in 3D, and as soon as the broadcasts start through our PlayTV services, you're going to watch 3D content [via that]. YouTube will be supporting 3D content over the next 12 months as well - and you'll be able to watch that on the PlayStation 3. And as you start taking 3D pictures of your family or 3D camcorder movies, you can play those back on PS3, too. It's a great purchase proposition and future proof."

Bring it on Sony. Bring it on!

Samsung To Offer 3D Blu-rays of Shrek, Monsters Vs. Aliens; Plus More 3DTV News

Michael here. According to Reuters, Samsung has announced that anyone who buys one of its 2010 3D TVs - which are coming out this month - along with their 3D Blu-ray player will get a kit that includes viewing glasses and a 3D version of Monsters vs. Aliens.

They also stated that the Shrek series will be available in 3D in the second half of 2010.

Meanwhile, Sony announced that they will begin selling 3DTV's in Japan on June 10, and internationally soon after. Sony expects its 46-inch model, which includes two pairs of 3D glasses, to sell for 350,000 yen ($3,875). According to Reuters this is 52 percent more than its latest regular LCD TV with a comparable screen size.

Oh, and Panasonic will officially launch sales of its 50 inch 3DTV tomorrow at a Best Buy store in Manhattan. Whether it will be available at other stores tomorrow is unclear.

Every significant TV manufacturer will be bringing out their 3D TV's within the next few months. Now the question is when those 3D Blu-rays will arrive. Hopefully we hear announcements of titles like Beowulf, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Ice Age 3, Coraline, Journey 3D, Up and of course Avatar soon. It would be a shame to have those TVs out there without a good number of 3D Blu-rays. We know the technology is ready...now we just need to wait for the studios to make their moves.

No Worries! AVATAR S3DHD Blu-ray Out In November!!

Jim here. Rest easy AVATAR fans! James Cameron himself put to bed any notion of the 3D Blu-ray for the movie taking years to get to us. In a recent interview, he said the time frame for 3D on Blu-ray is November of THIS year.

From WSJ: “It’s all right on schedule,” said Cameron. “We’ll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD April 22nd, that’s our plan as of right now, and that’ll be pretty much bare bones. And then we’ll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime.”

Also here is a clip from MTV:

All of this makes total sense. I was dumbfounded when I heard that the 3D release would be delayed. I NEVER thought it would be years as other sites conjectured - I don't know where that came from! This timing is perfect if you ask me: S3DHD televisions will be flowing in and out of CE stores starting next month and ramping up through summer / fall, and AVATAR hits just before the holidays!

Can you feel it? AVATAR in your home in stunning S3DHD by Christmas!! Potentially your home at least :-)