Lord of the Rings Trilogy Coming to Blu-ray

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially announced the release date of The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy on Blu-Ray as April 6th, 2010. The new set will be the theatrical versions only; I imagine the extended editions will either be released for Christmas or the following year. The set's retail is $99.99 but it will probably be cheaper at most retail locations. For example Amazon already has it priced at $69.99.

From Video Business:

The nine-disc set, priced at $99.98, will contains the original theatrical versions of the three Peter Jackson-directed Rings films—The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003)—along with more than seven hours of special features. The supplemental package will contain mostly special features that were on the various DVD versions of the movies, including featurettes that were originally on LordOfTheRings.net. However, the Blu-ray versions will offer high-def trailers. The set also will include digital copies of each film and have BD Live access. Prebook date is March 2.

Also, the 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings directed by Ralph Bakshi will debut on Blu-ray on April 13. Warner will deliver this program with new Dolby 5.1 audio and new extra content