David Ayer’s body of work has a number of standout projects. He wrote the screenplays forTraining DayandThe Fast and the Furious, with the former regarded as one ofDenzel Washington’s finest roles and the latter becoming a billion-dollar blockbuster franchise. But ten years ago, the director ofThe Beekeeperwrote and directed the gritty war epicFury. Set in the thick of World War II,Furyfollows a tank crew led by Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) as they move deep into German territory.The crew’s chances of survival grow slim as they deal with German forces, along with the addition of a new crewmember in Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a younger soldier who’s not as skilled as the rest of the crew.
Furyhas all the components of a great movie, as Ayer pulled no punches when it came to showing the horrors of war. The cast — particularly Pitt and Lerman — gave their all in their performances, and it marked a departure from the cop thrillers that Ayer usually gravitated toward.Furyalso became a major box office success,grossing over $200 millionin its theatrical run. But a major event could have sunkFurybefore it even got off the ground:the Sony Pictures hack of 2014.
The Sony Pictures Hack Led to a Massive Overhaul of Sony’s Slate
In November 2014, a group of hackers known as the “Guardians of Peace"leaked a massive amount of internal emailsfrom Sony Pictures, which included Sony’s plans for its various franchises as well as scripts and completed films that had yet to be released. The reasoning for this surroundedThe Interview, theSeth Rogen/James Francocomedy that featured Rogen and Franco as a pair of bumbling newsmen swept into a plot to assassinateKim Jong Un.Sony eventually wound up pullingThe Interviewfrom theatersafter the hackers made not-so-thinly veiled threats, thoughit did release the film onlineand in independent theaters. But most of the focus surrounded the revelation from the emails, including a massive faux pas that led to producerAmy Pascalresigning from the companyand film plans being revealed ahead of schedule or outright changing completely (the biggest fallout led to the deal between Sony and Marvel Studios to share the film rights to Spider-Man).
Furywound up being majorly affected,as it was one of five films that was leaked to the public.It also wound up being the filmthat was the most downloaded on torrent sites, only being eclipsed bya similar incident happening in July 2014withThe Expendables 3. Considering thatFuryhad only been in theaters for roughly a month, the fact that it was still able to collect a solid revenue at the box office is nothing short of impressive and speaks to the power of the theatrical experience.
David Ayer’s ‘Fury’ Is a War Movie to Experience in Theaters
The element that drew audiences toFury, and helped it overcome the Sony Pictures hacking scandal, is the fact thatit is the kind of film that was meant to be seen in a movie theater. Ayer went above and beyond to recapture the experience of World War II, including usingactual working tanksduringFury’s production. He also put the cast throughthe same kind of training endured by Navy SEALS. According to Pitt, the experience wasn’t a particularly pleasant one:
“It was set up to break us down, to keep us cold, to keep us exhausted, to make us miserable, to keep us wet, make us eat cold food.”
That training is on full display inFury, especially during a skirmish between the M4 Sherman under the main characters' commandand a Tiger tank. The way the crew barks orders and maneuver their tanks in order to deal the best damage will make you feel like you’re watching actual warfare instead of a film.
Furyalso held its own in a packed September. That month marked the release of the firstJohn Wick, while the next month would see the debuts ofInterstellarandBig Hero 6, both of which were major box office draws. The fact thatFuryovercame a devastating online leak, and persevered against some major competition, shows that Ayer made a film worth watching.
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
