I daresay that when they say 'December' they are well aware of 3 days holiday and the major spendfest that Christmas has become. Personally, I'm happy to wait. It was a great film and I'm sure the extra 50 mins or so can only improve it (especially if it restores Christopher Lee's missing bits), but I've waited so long, another few weeks isn't that much more.

Be wary of where you buy it though - the price of the last extended (with the statue of Gollum) varied greatly from £45 to £95. Amazon had the best deal.

LTS