Extended editions of films normally are seen in the DVD and Blu-ray release, and very rarely get a theatrical release. But fans of Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit trilogy should be excited to know that the longer cut of all three films will be hitting the big screen this fall.

More on this story after the jump.

This week sees the theatrical release of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, the third and final cinematic installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. So, what better time then now to look back on the previous film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which was just released on Blu-ray.

Screen Junkies took on Smaug in their most recent installment of Honest Trailers. Check out the 5-minute “Honest Trailer” for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug here below.

The Extended Edition Blu-ray for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson’s second Hobbit film, is the number one item on my Christmas Wish List this year, so I’m thrilled to share with you that it’s on sale at Amazon! Right now, the 3-Disc Blu-ray Extended Edition is only $19.99 (that’s 44% off the list price of $35.99).

The 3-Disc Extended Edition Blu-ray contains 25 minutes of never-before-seen film footage and tons of behind-the-scenes material, and includes a Digital HD version of the movie.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Digital Wire. Hope you all had a wonderful and scare-tastic Halloween because by the sound of the Christmas songs starting their yearly infection of the radio airwaves, an even more frightening time of year is upon us.

Below you’ll find info on several future home video releases complete with technical specs, release dates, and links to pre-order at Amazon. We would greatly appreciate it if you use those links to order because a small percentage of each order helps keep this website running at max power. The cover art for certain titles has yet to be finalized.

It isn’t entirely unusual to see a the price tag for a blockbuster tentpole films to have an eight or even nine-figure budget. But when the franchise is as large as The Hobbit trilogy, you’ll probably be doing more than just burning a hole in your wallet. Trying to figure out the cost of said films wouldn’t be easy, considering you have to pay the talent, the production crew, the cameramen, the visual effects artists, the writers, the director, cinematographers, and then there is hauling the equipment, traveling, reshoots, and much more. But when you have a successful franchise like The Hobbit, you generally would have even more money to work with to make a sequel more exciting.

We are now learning how much you would need to produce a film of that magnitude, and it is a pretty big number. It has cost WB approximately $745 million to make The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. And since the film is a trilogy we can expect that number to only skyrocket. But it is okay considering that the two Hobbit films combined grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide. Hit the jump for more info.