Summary
Furiosa’s failure at the box office means there probably won’t be any moreMad Maxmovies – and if that’s the case, I’ll be heartbroken. George Miller’s post-apocalyptic franchise has been a staple of action cinema since the ‘70s. 1979’sMad Max, set in a dystopian near-future, is an ultraviolent masterpiece with uncompromising brutality and a bleakly satirical view of society and human nature. It was a landmark in independent filmmaking and, according toGuinness World Records, the most profitable film ever made (until it was dethroned byBlair Witchin 1999). It got the franchise off to a terrific start.
Then, Miller’s first sequel, 1981’sMad Max 2– released in the U.S. asThe Road Warrior– upped the ante even more with riveting car chases, spaghetti western vibes, and a breathtaking vision of a lawless post-apocalyptic wasteland. The 1985 threequel,Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, doesn’t quite reach the masterpiece level of its two predecessors, but it introduced many iconic concepts to the pop-cultural consciousness (not least the Thunderdome itself). Three decades later, in 2015,Miller updated the mythos for a modern audience withMad Max: Fury Road, hailed as one of the greatest action movies ever made.
The overwhelming success ofFury Road– universal acclaim, strong box office performance, and 10 Oscar nominations – seemed to set up a second life for the franchise as a modern-day cinematic universe. Miller followed it up withFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel filling in the grisly backstory of Charlize Theron’sFury Roadprotagonist. But,althoughFuriosareceived the same widespread critical praise asFury Road, it didn’t enjoy the same box office success. This could mean that one of my favorite franchises is about to meet a swift end, and that breaks my heart.
TheMad Maxfranchise is a staple of action cinema and, creatively, it keeps going from strength to strength. But the box office failure ofFuriosameans that Warner Bros. probably won’t take a chance on any moreMad Maxfilms. In a world whereMoana 2and a live-action remake ofMoanaare concurrently in development, it would be a travesty for Hollywood to abandon one of the only I.P.s that actually innovates and evolves and has more stories to tell.
Furiosa barely made back its production budget at the global box office
Furiosagrossed just $172,714,623 at the worldwide box office(viaThe Numbers) against its whopping budget of $168 million. It barely scraped past its production budget and didn’t come close to making back the marketing budget. The usual 2.5x rule of thumb would suggest thatFuriosaneeded to gross $420 million to turn a profit. There are a number ofreasons forFuriosa’s box office underperformance. It arrived almost a decade after the movie it spun off, it had to compete withGarfield, and it wasn’t in theaters for long enough to allow good word-of-mouth to spread.
Furiosa Was One Of The Best Big Screen Experiences Of The Year
Furiosa demanded to be seen on a big screen
Whereas a movie likeDespicable Me 4orGhostbusters: Frozen Empireis pretty much the same experience on a TV at home as it is in a theater,Furiosamade full use of the theatrical facilities for a truly enriched viewing experience. The roar of the engines and the rat-a-tat of the shootouts blared out of the speakers. The giant screen brought every car crash and brutal beatdown a little close to home.
Furiosaneeded to be seen on a big screen to fully appreciate the way Miller manipulates his audience’s senses. So far this year, I’ve seen a couple of dozen new movies at a theater – ranging from the highs ofInside Out 2to the lows ofArgylle– andFuriosastands out as one of the few that genuinely demanded to be seen on a big screen.Furiosawas an immersive cinematic experience on par withDune: Part Two, and it deserved to achieve the same success.
TheoriginalMad Maxtrilogywas popular in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but it never matched the blockbuster success of aJawsor aStar Wars. The box office underperformance ofFuriosais disappointing, for sure – especially when something as inane asGodzilla x Kong: The New Empirecan cross the half-billion mark in the same moviegoing season – but it’s not exactly a surprise. I think the problem has always been thatMad Maxdoesn’t have the mainstream appeal of something likeE.T.orBack to the Future; it’s more of a niche thing.
Miller’s vision of the post-apocalyptic future is distinctive and perfectly executed and beautifully idiosyncratic, but it’s a little too bleak and twisted to reach a wide audience that enjoys simple pleasures like King Kong wearing an Iron Man glove.Mad Maxis too weird to have broad appeal. One of the biggest moments of triumph inFuriosais when the titular heroine rips off her own arm – that definitely wouldn’t fly in a Spider-Man movie.
The people who loveMad Max, such as myself, really love it. But that’s not a particularly large group. And there aren’t enough of us forMad Maxto be financially viable as a global blockbuster franchise in this day and age.Ironically, theMad Maxsaga has become the victim of a bleak cinematic wastelandin which only a lucky few franchises get to survive.
A project titledMad Max: The Wastelandhas been in development for a while, but it seems unlikely to come to fruition now.
There’s so much untapped potential in this universe
Hollywood’s current franchise-first mindset has led to some very pointless movies and TV shows being made. Lucasfilm made a whole movie about Han Solo’s “origin story,” despite the fact that the originalStar Warstrilogy already functioned as his origin story (showing how a selfish pirate became a selfless hero). Pixar is working onToy Story 5after supposedly ending the series withToy Story 4(after supposedly ending the series withToy Story 3).
In a world where those movies are being made, it’s a travesty that theMad Maxfranchise might be dead, becausethis is a universe that actually has more stories to tell.Furiosadelivers all the car stunts thatFury Roadfans were expecting, but it’s a totally different movie. It’s an episodic revenge epic that unfolds in distinctive chapters and spans decades. It introduced fascinating new characters, like Dementus and Praetorian Jack, and explored new facets of this world. Miller has just scratched the surface of all theMad Maxstories there are, and it might already be over.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Cast
A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the “end of the world,” Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be.
