People will eventually come around to love Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — it’s destined to become a cult classic — but they’ll have missed seeing it on the big screen, where it’s best appreciated. Furiosa marks George Miller’s return to his iconic gas-guzzling, post-apocalyptic wasteland nine years after his 2015 masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s a prequel filling in the backstory of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa (here, played by Anya Taylor-Joy), showing how a young girl from the thriving Green Place was kidnapped by outlaw bikers and ended up becoming Immortan Joe’s right-hand lieutenant.
When it arrived in theaters in May, Furiosa was hailed as another action movie masterpiece and further proof that Miller is still at the top of his game. But despite being well-received by critics and audiences alike, Furiosa was a box office bomb. It grossed just $172,436,244 worldwide against a budget of $168 million (via The Numbers). As with many critically acclaimed box office bombs, sooner or later, Furiosa is bound to be recognized as an underappreciated gem and a modern classic. But since this movie was made to be seen on the big screen, it’ll already be too late.
Furiosa Was Great & Will Be Appreciated As A Classic In The Near Future
Audiences Will Catch It At Home & Realize How Great It Is
Now that Furiosa has arrived on streaming, the audiences who missed it in theaters will surely catch it at home and see how great it is. When that happens, the movie will be vindicated as a cult classic and become just as adored as the other Mad Max films. There are a lot of great movies that initially bombed at the box office but eventually got reevaluated as beloved classics. This applies to some of the most iconic movies ever made: Fight Club, Blade Runner, The Big Lebowski, The Shawshank Redemption — even Citizen Kane.
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga's 10 Most Rewatchable Scenes
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There’s a lot to love in Furiosa. Miller directs the action sequences with his usual gusto and Taylor-Joy gives a typically captivating performance in the title role. Chris Hemsworth gives a darkly hilarious turn as the villainous Dementus, who always manages to worm his way out of trouble with his grandiose bluster. Furiosa’s pursuit of Dementus is an engaging revenge story that builds to a beautifully disturbing twist ending. It’s only a matter of time before enough people catch up with this movie for it to become a renowned classic.
Furiosa Deserved To Be Witnessed On The Big Screen
It's A Deeply Cinematic Experience
If ever a movie demanded to be seen on the big screen, it was Furiosa. Madame Web and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire didn’t lose much in their transition from the big screen to the small screen, but Furiosa is a deeply cinematic experience. Miller follows the Hitchcockian mantra that cinema should cross the language barrier; audiences around the world should be able to watch a movie and understand the story without having the subtitles on. Miller’s visual storytelling is unparalleled and it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible with the audience’s full attention.
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Furiosa's box office failure means there probably won't be any more Mad Max films – and that's a tragedy, because they're a staple of action cinema.
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Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is a mind-blowing sensory experience that rewarded a trip to the theater. From Octoboss’ attack on the War Rig to Dementus’ ambush at the Bullet Farm, the action sequences were truly mesmerizing blown up on a huge cinema screen with explosions and gunfire bursting from the giant surround-sound speakers. Even the greatest home entertainment setup can’t replicate that experience.
Why Furiosa Wasn't A Box Office Hit, Despite Being Perfect For The Movie Theater
There Are A Few Reasons Why Furiosa Bombed At The Box Office
There are a few reasons why Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga failed to make a splash at the box office. The Mad Max franchise has always had niche appeal; thanks to its bizarre tone, it’s never been a mainstream blockbuster franchise. Neither of Furiosa’s stars are a proven box office draw; Taylor-Joy’s big-budget efforts have bombed at the box office and Hemsworth doesn’t have much star power outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plus, prequels have tended to underperform at the box office, like Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
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10 Reasons Furiosa Underperformed At The Box Office Despite Its 90% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has been met with universally positive reviews and good word-of-mouth – so why is it underperforming at the box office?
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Furiosa arrived way too late to capitalize on Fury Road’s success. For three or four years after it hit theaters, Fury Road fans were champing at the bit for a follow-up. But due to some legal disagreements between Miller and Warner Bros., the next Mad Max movie didn’t come together for nine years, when a lot of those fans had moved on. On top of all that, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has been released in a post-COVID, post-streaming era when movie theater attendance in general is way down. All that conspired to create a box office bomb.
Source: The Numbers
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
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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.
- Director
- George Miller
- Cast
- Anya Taylor-Joy , Chris Hemsworth , Tom Burke , Alyla Browne , Nathan Jones , Angus Sampson , Daniel Webber , Lachy Hulme
- Runtime
- 148 Minutes