The awards season has perhaps been better than expected for "Mad Max: Fury Road." Blockbuster movies don’t always get a fair shake from critics groups and other organizations, but the path towards an Oscar is looking better with each passing day for George Miller‘s film. This past week, the kudos from various organizations, including a big win from the National Board Of Review, resulted in two Golden Globes nominations for ‘Fury Road,’ for Best Picture and Best Director. I would wager if you had asked Warner Bros. what film they have to focus on in December, they might’ve said "Black Mass." But clearly, Miller’s action spectacle has become the studio’s awards horse. So, could they celebrate all the good things to happen to the movie in 2015 by re-releasing it next year?
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You might recall that throughout the promotion for ‘Fury Road,’ Miller spoke at length about cutting a black-and-white version of the movie, and that he had insisted to the studio they make it available on the home video release. That didn’t happen. While a fan version of a monochrome ‘Fury Road’ briefly hit the web in September, it was quickly yanked offline, but it seems there’s still hope for Miller’s vision.
Screen Daily reveals that an official black-and-white version does exist, "which Miller confirms was his original intent," and producer Doug Mitchell says it might be released in 2016. Big news, indeed.
I would imagine Warner Bros. are still waiting to see how the film does when the Oscar nominations are unveiled next month, and even if it were to do well, I’d wager they won’t go wide with a black-and-white "Mad Max: Fury Road." I’d guess it might be a special event screening, or something that might make its way in limited release to theaters like Alamo Drafthouse. But, we’ll just have to wait and see. However, it’s probably worth noting that the re-cut of Alfonso Cuarón‘s "Gravity" featuring just the score and sound effects, never hit the big screen, and was only released on a special edition Blu-ray of the film. And the sci-fi flick did far better box office numbers than ‘Fury Road.’ Food for thought.
But are you interested in ‘Fury Road’ as a big screen, black-and-white experience? Or would you rather just see the current version again? Let us know below.