Furiosa flopping at the box office could actually be a blessing in disguise for the franchise, as it could lead to a Mad Max television series. George Miller began the long-running apocalyptic series in 1979, and has developed the world in five Mad Max movies. Mel Gibson played the titular wasteland dweller in the first three movies, but after a 30-year hiatus, Tom Hardy portrayed the character in Mad Max: Fury Road. 2015’s Fury Road breathed new life into the series, and proved that there are more stories to tell in the wasteland.
After Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller started planning the next entry in the saga. For the fifth movie in the series, Miller surprisingly turned away from the character of Max and focused on Furiosa, who was previously introduced in Fury Road. The story of Furiosa follows the titular character after being kidnapped from her home and forced to work for the warlord Immortan Joe. While reviews for Furiosa were outstanding, the movie unfortunately bombed at the box office. After Furiosa’s box office failure, the future of the Mad Max franchise is uncertain.
The Next Mad Max Story Should Be Told On TV After Furiosa’s Box Office Flop
The Mad Max Franchise Would Be Perfect For A TV Show
Mad Max: Fury Road was a massive critical success in 2015 and also had a respectable box office haul, especially considering the franchise had been dead for 30 years. Therefore, Fury Road proved that people were still interested in new Mad Max movies. This led to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga being greenlit. However, Furiosa did not fare as well as its predecessor at the box office. Furiosa only grossed $173,775,790 at the worldwide box office on a massive budget of $168 million (via Box Office Mojo).
|
Every Mad Max Movie |
RT Critics Score |
|---|---|
|
Mad Max (1979) |
90% |
|
Mad Max: The Road Warrior (1981) |
93% |
|
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) |
81% |
|
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) |
97% |
|
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) |
90% |
Before Furiosa’s flop, Miller was planning a sixth entry in the series, which would have been titled Mad Max: The Wasteland. However, the project’s status is now unknown after the disappointing box office performance of Furiosa. There’s a chance that Miller might never be able to make another Mad Max movie again. Therefore, he should pivot and instead develop a Mad Max television series. This would not be completely out of left field for the franchise, as Miller had previously considered making a Mad Max TV show in the 1990s.
Why Mad Max’s 1995 TV Show Project Never Happened
George Miller Eventually Abandoned The Mad Max TV Show
While the first two Mad Max movies were massive critical successes, the third movie in the series, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, struggled more with critics. Additionally, Mel Gibson had become a massive movie star and had an increasingly busy schedule. These factors led Miller to take a break from the franchise in the mid 1980s. This break would end up lasting 30 years, but there was a brief period in the 90s when Miller was thinking of developing a Mad Max TV show.
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Who Killed The World In Mad Max
Mad Max is set in an apocalyptic world destroyed by a nuclear war over oil resources, while Mad Max: Fury Road emphasised the fight over water.
In the 90s, Warner Bros. went through a list of their intellectual properties and decided that Mad Max would work well as a television series. Eager to capitalize on the marketing potential of the Mad Max franchise, Warner Bros. immediately pitched Miller the idea. However, Miller was not convinced. The filmmaker was interested in the potential of a long-form story set in the world of Mad Max, but was hesitant to return to the franchise at all. The hiring of 21 Jump Street showrunner Eric Blakeney eventually convinced the director that a Mad Max show was worth developing.
Miller and Blakney began working on the Mad Max show, but many of their ideas were determined to be too intense for TV. Miller didn’t want to budge on his vision of the Mad Max franchise, which has always been quite graphic. Therefore, he ultimately decided to abandon the project. However, the abandoned Mad Max television series led to Miller meeting comic artist Brendan McCarthy, who he eventually co-wrote Fury Road with many years later.
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George Miller Clearly Has More Mad Max Stories To Tell After Furiosa
George Miller Has Expanded The Mad Max Franchise Significantly Since Fury Road
Miller clearly wasn’t interested enough in returning to the Mad Max franchise to make sure the 90s television show happened, but he returned to the series in a miraculous way with Fury Road. After the franchise was left stagnant for three decades, Miller directed what is arguably the best movie in the Mad Max series. After his experience developing and directing Fury Road, Miller was clearly inspired enough to work on Furiosa. In the lead up to the release of Furiosa, Miller expressed interest in making another Mad Max movie.
It would be a shame if Miller is never able to present any of his story ideas for the Mad Max series on the screen again.
Therefore, it is clear that Miller has more stories to tell in the world of Mad Max. In addition to the proposed sixth movie in the series, Mad Max: The Wasteland, Miller has also been a part of several comic books that have been set in the world of the series. These comics have continued to flesh out the wasteland that is seen in the Mad Max movies. It would be a shame if Miller is never able to present any of his story ideas for the Mad Max series on the screen again.
Would Mad Max Work On The Small Screen After Five Theatrical Movies?
A Mad Max TV Show Would Be Very Exciting
While it would be disappointing if Miller can never make his Mad Max: The Wasteland movie, the small screen is potentially a better home for the franchise. The story of Mad Max: The Wasteland would feature the return of Max, and show him on another adventure in the post-apocalyptic world of the series. Whether Tom Hardy returns or the role of Max is once again recast, it would be great to see the iconic character onscreen again.
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Tom Hardy’s Mad Max Future Update Is Incredibly Disappointing, But I’m Not Surprised
Following Furiosa’s shocking box office flop, the highly anticipated return of Tom Hardy as Mad Max may not have the momentum to happen.
A television series would allow audiences to spend more time with Max than ever before, which would likely make him an even more popular character. Beyond Max, Miller is clearly interested in centering Mad Max stories on other characters, just like he did with Furiosa. The structure of a potential television show would allow Miller and other writers to focus specific episodes on different characters, further fleshing out the world. Therefore, a Mad Max television show could actually work incredibly well after five movies, and there is an immense amount of potential in the project.
Mad Max
Mad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. The first three films star Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who seeks revenge after his family is murdered. Tom Hardy took over the role for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa.
- Cast
-
Mel Gibson
, Joanne Samuel
, Hugh Keays-Byrne
, Steve Bisley
, Tim Burns
, Roger Ward
, Tom Hardy
, Charlize Theron
, Nicholas Hoult
, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
, Riley Keough
, Zoë Kravitz
, Abbey Lee
, Courtney Eaton
, Anya Taylor-Joy
, Chris Hemsworth
, Tom Burke
, Alyla Browne - Character(s)
-
Max Rockatansky
, Immortan Joe
, Furiosa
, Rictus Erectus
, Angharad
, The People Eater
, Corpus Colossus
, Toecutter
, Nux
, Dr. Dementus
