The Furiosa had a disappointing run at the box office, leaving the franchise without a clear path to a sequel. While a strong performance would have made a follow-up inevitable, a shaky one seriously endangered it. But there is much life left in the Mad Max franchise, which has shown promising creativity again and again. Noting one part of 1979's Mad Max could help it blossom and release another movie.

While Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga stepped back in the Mad Max timeline to before the events of Mad Max: Fury Road, the next Mad Max movie could be set at any point. It is free to follow the trend set by Mad Max: Fury Road, following Furiosa and her adventures, or to resume focus on Max. Furiosa's box office figures may suggest that focusing on Max is a safer bet for the next Mad Max movie than focusing on Furiosa. Either way, the next Mad Max movie should look to its very first release for inspiration as to its next move.

The Next Mad Max Needs To Have A Lower Budget After Furiosa’s Box Office

Lowering The Budget Would Enable A Sequel

With its low budget, the original Mad Max movie made box office history by becoming the most profitable movie ever, which the next Mad Max movie should try and replicate. While Furiosa wasn't a hit, Fury Road didn't do incredibly at the box office either. Perhaps Furiosa herself wasn't the problem. Enabled by former revenue, the newer Mad Max movies both look utterly stunning, but were incredibly expensive. Mad Max is now the victim of its own success, but it could easily pitch a smart reboot with a low budget that targeted the easy profits of its first venture.

Fury Road & Furiosa Looked Incredible, But Mad Max Hasn’t Been Sustainable

Mad Max's High Budgets Have Been An Issue

Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa utilized their high budgets exceptionally well, but they put the franchise on an unsustainable trajectory. Cinema-goers have not resumed the same habits they once had since COVID-19, and inflation has ensured that the environment is not the same as it was in 1979, or even in 2019. So, a movie as cheap as Mad Max could not be made now. But Fury Road and Furiosa revealed the Mad Max world in glorious detail, and a low-budget sequel, filling in some of the world's blanks, may not be a terrible idea.

Brilliant things can be achieved without a huge budget in Hollywood, as movies like The Blair Witch Project prove. Making every penny count in Furiosa's follow-up is a surefire way to avoid box office disappointment. Although expensive cars like Furiosa's Cranky Black would be sorely missed, Mad Max should exploit its premise more. A post-apocalyptic biker movie can use scrap to build some of its creations and can focus on human drama and action, limiting practical effects as much as possible. Mad Mad movies don't need a huge budget, and a cheaper movie could facilitate a future for Mad Max.