Coen Brothers' 'Blood Simple' Re-Released

July 8 -- Before munching on doughnuts in the hit film Fargo, Frances McDormand was caught in a bizarre love triangle in the Coen brothers’ first movie, Blood Simple.

The film drew critical praise in the 1980s, and now it’s back in theaters, in the form of a new director’s cut.

For those unfamiliar with Blood Simple, the film helped launch the careers of Joel and Ethan Coen before the filmmaking brothers went on to create such quirky hits as Raising Arizona and Fargo.

In Blood Simple, they tackled the age-old topic of marriage and infidelity. McDormand — who is married to to Joel Coen in real life — plays a woman who is having an affair with a bartender in a Texas saloon. The trouble is, her husband owns the saloon. He reacts by deciding to have his cheating wife killed.

Sundance Winner

Until this release, it’s been tough to see a proper version of the film. According to the Coen brothers, Blood Simple was transferred poorly for video release and lacked all the music from the theatrical version because they were unable to license some of the tunes.

Audiences eager to watch the movie on the big screen should prepare for a slightly shorter version. The Coens are taking their own spin on the director’s cut — instead of adding extra footage, they hacked away at what they call “some of the boring parts.”

The original version was good enough to spark attention from critics and to win the top prize at the first Sundance Film Festival in 1985.

Next up for the fraternal filmmaking team: A relatively modern-day version of Homer’s Odyssey, starring The Perfect Storm’s George Clooney. The Depression-era comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? is due out in September and features Clooney and John Turturro as escapees from a Mississippi prison chain gang.

ABCNEWS.com’s Nancy Chandross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.