A sprawling behemoth of a blockbuster, relentless in its scope and action, Mad Max: Fury Road was, without a doubt, the best movie of the Summer. And now Warner Bros. Pictures is going full throttle in its campaign to have the movie in the running for the top prize at next February’s Oscars.
According to Slashfilm, Warner Bros has officially launched a ‘for your consideration’ PR drive for the latest Mad Max, an awards season ploy usually carried out by studios of more typically Oscar-baity fare than George Miller’s nail-biting action ride. has decided to campaign for Mad Max: Fury Road as a Best Picture nominee for this year's Academy Awards.
The story was broken by film critic Mike McGranahan, who posted a photo of the WB campaign advert on Twitter, and reveals that the studio is also pushing Tom Hardy for ‘Best Actor’, Charlize Theron for ‘Best Actress’ and Nicholas Hoult for ‘Best Supporting Actor’. Writer-director George Miller will also likely feature in the ‘Best Director’ category.
Because people have asked, the MAD MAX: FURY ROAD actors are all being pushed for awards, too. pic.twitter.com/24lZFyBMAu
— Mike McGranaghan (@AisleSeat) October 12, 2015
Awards season campaign drives are a lucrative cottage industry for PR executives working in Hollywood, with studios splashing serious cash to get a nod for socially-conscious dramas, actors going gay/ugly/disabled, or other so-called ‘prestige pictures’ that typically sweep the boards on Oscar night, but have less and less impact on box office returns.
Science-fiction cinema is usually overlooked by Academy voters, with Avatar, Gravity, and District 9 being among the very small number of sci-fi films to get a ‘Best Picture’ nomination in the last decade. The last time a fantasy film swept the boards was when the final Lord of the Rings film won 11 Oscars in 2004, a feat that has never been bettered – and to which The Hobbit trilogy utterly fail to live up to, its first film winning the series’ only Oscar, in a non-competitive category.
Mad Max: Fury Road was a universal critical darling when it was released during the Summer, and between its high-octane action set pieces and stunning visuals, it is arguably one of the best-reviewed films of the year and considered an electric classic of pure cinema.
What is clear is that Mad Max: Fury Road could easily win a number of Academy Awards in technical categories, particularly for visual effects, editing, production design, though it will face stiff competition from The Martian, a bigger commercial hit and in cinemas during the ‘prestige picture’ period. But as the crowning achievement of Australian director George Miller’s career, Warner Bros. is hoping that the film can transcend from technical to artistic, and is therefore putting money behind a campaign.
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