It was exactly a year ago this week that Michael Mann‘s "Blackhat" was quietly exiting theaters after three weeks in wide release. The Chris Hemsworth-starring thriller didn’t gel with most critics, and audiences gave it a hard pass (it only grossed $19 million worldwide); however, there has been a minority of very strong supporters of the film (and it ranked on our Underrated Movies Of 2015 list). Well, it seems Mann isn’t quite done tinkering with the movie, and has a fresh version he’s unveiling very soon.
This weekend, BAM in Brooklyn is kicking off "Heat & Vice: The Films of Michael Mann," which as the title suggests, is a retrospective of the filmmaker’s work, and among the offerings will be a one-time-only, director’s-cut screening of "Blackhat" on February 10th.
The event page says the screening will mark the world premiere of Mann’s new re-edit. No word yet what changes have been made, or what material has been added or removed, but it’ll undoubtedly be fascinating to see what Mann has reconfigured in his picture. And let’s hope for those of us not in New York, Universal decides to release this new version on Blu-ray or digital down the line.
‘Blackhat" was originally 129 minutes. The director’s cut is 133 minutes long. Tickets are on sale now.