Furiosa Proves Mad Max Was Never A Blockbuster Franchise

Right now, you might be thinking about Fury Road, as surely that was a blockbuster film. Worldwide, it made $397 million, which makes you think it was a success. With a production budget of $150 million (though George Miller and Warner Bros argue on the true cost, it could be $180 million) and an estimated marketing budget of around $100 million, the film lost money.

If the most successful film in the Mad Max franchise since the original left the studio anywhere from $20 to $40 million in the hole, it’s not a hit franchise.

Going back to the 80s and the height of Mad Max, the numbers are better than Fury Road, but not by much. The original film was made on a shoestring budget in 1980, only $200,000 altogether, and earning $100 million (of note, $10 million came from the United States, and the majority was from Australia), which is the type of success studios would kill for today. But that was the end of the good times for the franchise.

Road Warrior, released in 1982, and Beyond Thunderdome, released in 1985, made $24 million and $36 million, respectively. This isn’t bad, but it’s not the type of success anyone expects from Mad Max. For some reason, despite the consistently low box office numbers, the franchise looms large in pop culture and acts as a shorthand description for an entire genre of storytelling.

If you say the name “Mad Max” to someone, they immediately picture a desolate wasteland with ramshackle vehicles traveling over it, crewed by colorful characters wearing spikes, shoulder pads, wild hair, and some of the most unique costumes in Hollywood history. Countless shows have done parodies or tributes to Mad Max, from Miracle Workers Season 4 to the Super Mario Brothers Super Show’s episode, “Toad Warrior.” The iconic look and concept of Mad Max are more popular than the actual franchise.

I question the taste of the average movie-goer when Fury Road, which is almost non-stop wild action, done mainly with practical effects, is barely above the level of a complete flop. There is something fundamentally wrong with Mad Max as a franchise that stops it from connecting with the wider audience, and that problem is a double-edged sword because it’s also what makes the movies great in the first place.

George Miller’s post-apocalyptic wasteland, no matter if it’s Mel Gibson, Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, or Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead, is not a nice place. It’s depressingly hopeless, and even a victory feels hollow because humanity is still doomed to die out. Miller’s directing bookends the bombastic action setpieces with quiet, contemplative moments that feature sparse dialogue and a story that refuses to explain everything to the audience.

Furiosa, a dark story that shows us more of the harsh reality of George Miller’s post-apocalyptic future than any movie before it, has been knocked by the general audience as being too depressing. Amazing visuals, ground-breaking cinematography, and the greatest physical stunts in modern Hollywood aren’t enough to get the public out to the theaters. It never has, not once has this been a recipe for success, which means the failure of Furiosa should not be surprising.

I loved the movie, and I know plenty of people who have enjoyed every film in the Mad Max franchise, but the numbers don’t lie. Mad Max has never been successful, and unless something drastic changes, it never will be. While none of them are perfect movies, and they all have a few glaring missteps, they’re amazing works of cinematic art.

They can’t reach the same level of success as even one of Michael Bay’s Transformers.