Peter Jackson Has Bad News For Lord Of The Rings Fans Wanting A New Extended Edition

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For certain cinephiles out there, no trilogy in cinema history can touch Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings." Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novels, Jackson made magic out of the texts, delivering three powerhouse hit movies with "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King," a massive success that also won Best Picture at the Oscars. The whole thing was a mic drop for the ages, and, over the decades, fans have visited and revisited these films, particularly the extended editions, which added a whole lot more to the Middle-earth saga. But is there even more out there waiting to be seen?

In an interview with Empire celebrating the 25th anniversary of "The Fellowship of the Ring," Jackson addressed the possibility of extended-extended cuts of the trilogy. The "Lord of the Rings" extended editions already have runtimes far greater than the theatrical cuts, but there exists hope that even longer versions might be possible à la the fabled "Mithril Cut." Jackson, however, poured cold water on the situation. Here's what he had to say about it:

"Are there great scenes that we never used? The answer is no. There are bits and pieces, I guess. But if you did an extended-extended cut, or whatever it will get called, it would be disappointing. It would be the extended cut with a few extra seconds of something here and there; it wouldn't be worthwhile doing."

As Jackson told it, there might be insignificant bits and pieces of footage that could be added into the films, but nothing that would be worth doing. Fans would undoubtedly have high hopes for such a thing, and Warner Bros. could probably capitalize on it, but it would also be pointless if all it did was set the stage for disappointment.

The rumors of even more extended cuts of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy goes back to scenes that were supposedly shot but still haven't been made officially available. One scene, in particular, centers on a young, clean-shaven Aragorn as he's courting Arwen. "There was that, it was in Lothlórien," co-writer Philippa Boyens explained in the same Empire piece. "But there's not a lot. There really isn't."

Still, while this might be a bummer for hardcore fans, the good news is that we're far from done exploring Middle-earth on screen. Indeed, there is much more coming our way within the scope of this franchise in the years ahead. Granted, Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" movies were broadly viewed as a mess and not nearly as beloved as the "Rings" trilogy, so there might be some hesitation when it comes to getting excited about new Middle-earth fare.

As for what's on the way? The biggest thing is the new live-action movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum," which will be directed by Andy Serkis, the man who played Gollum in Jackson's "Rings" films. What's more, "The Hunt for Gollum" is just one of several movies being explored by Warner Bros. Given that this is a multi-billion-dollar franchise, it's understandable that the studio would like to keep it going, if possible.

Beyond that, Amazon Prime Video also has "The Rings of Power" season 3 on deck, which will feature a time jump. Whether or not the show extends beyond that remains to be seen, but there's plenty coming our way in the not-too-distant future, even if the so-called "Mithril Cut" doesn't exist.

You can grab the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy on 4K or Blu-ray from Amazon.