2024 started off on a sour note for some Lord of the Rings fans, as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's extended edition--considered by some to be the definitive version--was recently unceremoniously dumped from Max, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is back online, however, and you can stream it now.

GameSpot has learned that the removal of Lord of the Rings: Return of the king Extended Edition was the result of a technical issue that the team at Max worked to rectify to get the title back online.

The extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers remain available to stream on Max, and did not vanish alongside The Return of the King's extended edition. The theatrical versions of all three films are on Max as well. People on social media complained about the absence of Return of the King's extended edition when it was briefly removed. Some said they started the lengthy film in December and attempted to resume watching in 2024 only to find the 11-time Oscar-winning movie to be removed from the catalog.