Cita:Video Business reports that New Line Home Entertainment will release the extended edition DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in December.

That falls outside of the holiday shopping primetime of mid-November--when the past two extended versions of the series, "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers," hit stores.

Still, the switch is not expected to hurt sales. Consumers have been aware for months about an upcoming extended take on "Return of the King," given the releases of ones for "Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers".

The trade adds that the extended edition took longer to produce because cast members, now filming new projects, had to be rounded up from all over to complete their commentaries.

Cita:5:30-7:30 New Line Cinema/New Line Home Entertainment: Blade: Trinity, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Cellular, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition DVD—New Line Cinema presents a "first look" at Blade: Trinity that includes footage from the upcoming film followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with cast members Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds as well as director David Goyer. Also making an appearance will be the stars of the upcoming film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, John Cho and Kal Penn. New Line Home Entertainment will also present a first look at The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Special Extended DVD Edition. This hour-long presentation will debut select clips from the extended version of the film and will include a panel discussion featuring key cast and crew members who were involved in the creation of the extended DVD. Program elements will include Peter Jackson's scene selection process (his favorite moments, etc.) and stories from The Lord of the Rings co-producer Rick Porras and cast member David Wenham about the behind-the-scenes preparations necessary to deliver this extended version of the DVD. Beyond the making of the film, New Line Home Entertainment DVD executive Mike Mulvihill and DVD producer Michael Pellerin will discuss their collaboration with the cast and crew to create the extensive bonus features. All panel participants will recount their time spent being interviewed for the DVD bonus features and the experience of having additional cameras on-set during the entire filming process.