Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagais a pivotal installment intheMad Maxfranchise, set shortly before the events of the extremely successfulFury RoadintheMad Maxtimeline, and starringFury Road’s fan-favorite character, Furiosa. ThoughFuriosawas once expected to be anotherMad Maxfranchise success, it drew criticism for its “fake-looking” special effects and failed to perform financially. Despite largely positive reviews from fans and critics,Furiosahas, perhaps unfairly, been described as a flop, drawing just $173 million at the box office against its enormous and record-breaking budget – a situation that makes oneMad Maxstat seem even more shocking.
Furiosaand George Miller’s original 1979Mad Maxhad some unexpected similarities. They both had revenge as a central theme,Furiosa’s bleak endingis tonally similar toMad Max’s, and both movies have a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, the two movies differ drastically in terms of their box-office success.Mad Maxwas originally a low-budget critical failure, which grew into a record-breaking cult hit over time.Furiosa’s enormous budget was unprecedented, and its story was praised, which makesFuriosa’s box office failure even more surprising when compared toMad Max’s financial success.
Director George Miller was relatively unknown when he made the originalMad Maxmovie, so he had to make his gritty dystopian revenge story on a tiny budget of just 400,000 Australian dollars (approximately $350,000). The low budget shaped the lore and future of theMad Maxfranchise, asMiller only setMad Maxin the future because it was cheaperto shoot in abandoned buildings.Furiosawas made on a $168 million budget, the largest budget ever spent on aMad Maxmovie. Their resulting box office figures have made both movies into record-breakers for very different reasons.
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Comparing its box-office success with its low budget,Mad Maxwon a Guinness World Recordfor being the most profitable movie ever made at the time.Mad Maxheld this title for 20 years before being overtaken by the found footage horrorThe Blair Witch Projectin 1999.Furiosacurrently holds the record for the biggest budget ever used on an Australian movie. However,Furiosaalso holds a disappointingMad Maxsaga record, with the worst two-week drop in the franchise’s history, as revenue dropped by 59% between weeks one and two after its release. This discrepancy only highlights the originalMad Max’s extraordinary achievement.
Furiosa’s Release Timing May Have Affected Its Box Office Success
Furiosawould have had to double its staggering budgetto succeed financially, butFuriosa’s $173 million box office earnings barely surpassed its budget. It is difficult to compare the olderMad Maxmovies toFuriosa,as the films were generally cult hits rather than immediate successes. However, the box office figures for the originalMad Maxmovie andFuriosaclearly indicate their respective success and failure.Mad Maxwas an unprecedented financial and critical hit, and whileFuriosais undoubtedly a box office bomb, it was not a critical flop.
Mad Max franchise performance
1979
$350,000
$100 million
90%
1981
$3 million
$36 million
94%
1985
$10 million
79%
2015
$160 million
$380.4 million
97%
2024
$168 million
$173 million
Furiosa’s box office failure may not be connected to the movie itself.Furiosawas released over a three-day Memorial Weekend, during whichcinema-going families would be unlikely to choose the R-ratedFuriosaover the family-friendlyGarfield, which was also released that weekend.Furiosaalso runs for 148 minutes and might have been more successful had it been released in a colder month, when watching a long movie indoors would be appealing. If these factors are taken into account, with a different release plan, studios might still take a chance on a sequel toFuriosadespite its financial failure.
