Although theMad Maxmovies were somewhat derailed byFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga’s box office underperformance,The Road Warriormight hold the key to the franchise’s future.TheMad Maxfranchise’s timelinehas always been hard to follow, but the most recent installment in the series did nothing to make matters easier. According toFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, the prequel takes place 45 years after the apocalypse. However, 1979’sMad Maxtakes place before the off-screen end of the world, which makes it hard to work out how Max is not in his late 60s byFury Road.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Ending Explained
Furiosa ends in a way that ties up the title character’s storyline, relaying her origins. We break down the biggest moments from Furiosa’s ending.
Of course,Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’s box office underperformancecan hardly be blamed on this sort of minor canon plothole. Viewers come toMad Maxmovies for high-octane action, director George Miller’s uniquely grim vision of the future, and memorably bizarre characters like the Bullet Farmer and Sprog.Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagaundeniably offered plenty of offbeat heroes and villains, impactful action sequences, and nightmarish visions of a bleak future, but the prequel’s failure isn’t too surprising considering one issue.Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’s budgetandMad Max’s price tag couldn’t be more different.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagacost a staggering $168 million, which was a considerable jump up fromFury Road’s $150 million. This, in turn, was a massive increase from the budget of 1985’sMad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, which cost only $10 million. In fairness, inflation does play a role, but this budget would still only amount to around $29 million in 2024, according to theUS Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator. If the five-fold increase betweenMad Max: Beyond ThunderdomeandFury Roadseems high, it is worth noting thatMad Max: Beyond Thunderdome’s budget massively outdid its predecessor.
Mad Max franchise performance
1979
$200,000
$100 million
90%
1981
$2 million
$36 million
94%
1985
$10 million
79%
2015
$150 million
$380.4 million
97%
2024
$168 million
$173 million
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdomecost five times as much as 1980’sThe Road Warrior, which was made for a mere $2 million. Astoundingly, this represented a tenfold increase in the budget of the original cult classic, which was made for only $200,000 in 1979.Mad Maxwas the most profitable movieever made for years untilThe Blair Witch Projectdethroned the Australian indie movie, which explains howThe Road Warriorwas able to get away with such an astronomical budget increase. However, just because the series can keep getting bigger, doesn’t necessarily mean that it should.
Whenever the nextMad Maxmovie arrives, it must cost less thanFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga. The large budget ofFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagacontributed to its underperformance since the franchise didn’t offer viewers as big a gap between releases asFury RoadandMad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.Fury Roadhad a similarly large budget, but the series had been off cinema screens for thirty years when that belated sequel arrived. In contrast, there were only nine years betweenFury Road’s 2015 release andFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga’s May 2024 arrival.
IfMad Max 5: The Wastelandever happens, the sequel should stop the franchise’s trend toward ever-escalating budgets.TheMad Maxseries doesn’t need to get bigger with every new movieand, if anything, the series could benefit from revisiting its gritty origins. Part of what madeMad Maxfeel so fresh, vital, and brutal in 1979 was its stripped-back intensity, and a big budget would have polished the movie’s memorably rough edges.The Road Warriorwas already much more commercial than its predecessor, whereas a newMad Maxmovie with a smaller budget could be riskier and edgier.
Viewers come to theMad Maxseries expecting action, and spectacular set pieces admittedly don’t come cheap. However, after outings likeThe Road WarriorandFury Road, it is easy to forget how low on action and high on tensionMad Maxis.1979’sMad Maxis way darkerthan viewers remember, and it is missing much of the campiness that defined its sequels.
The franchise’s next installments could be smaller, simpler, and more straightforward.
This is a good thing, as it meansfutureMad Maxsequels and prequels could borrow the original movie’s grounded style. After the blockbuster spectacle ofFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, the franchise’s next installments could be smaller, simpler, and more straightforward. This approach would not only remind viewers of the original movie’s charm, but it would also afford the franchise a chance at financial success. The box office struggles ofFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagaproves theMad Maxmovies must undoThe Road Warrior’s big change and think small once more.
