Summary

• Furiosa's VOD success doesn't replicate box office impact but is promising for the Mad Max franchise.
• Critics and audiences loved Furiosa, but its box office flop remains a mystery.
• Future Mad Max films should be made, but releasing them quickly could help avoid another box office flop.

Following the box office failure of without Tom Hardy's involvement.

While Furiosa is still screening in select theaters, it has only grossed $171 million worldwide against a hefty production budget of $168 million. The prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular protagonist who was first introduced in the celebrated 2015 blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road. By comparison, Fury Road wasn't a massive success at the box office, earning just over $368 million worldwide and finishing as the twentieth highest-grossing movie of a stacked year at the 2015 box office led by the $2.06 billion gross of Star Wars Ep VII: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World's $1.67 billion.

Furiosa Dominating VOD Sales Is A Positive After Its Box Office Performance

Furiosa's box office flop defied most expert expectations

It's great to see Furiosa finally getting more of the recognition it deserves on video-on-demand platforms. While it may not necessarily replicate the effects of a larger box office, the VOD sales for Furiosa are a promising sign for future installments of the overall Mad Max franchise. Furiosa has officially topped two separate VOD charts, iTunes and Fandango, and is available for digital purchase for $24.99. It came in at number one on the iTunes VOD chart for July 1 and the Fandango at Home chart for the week of June 24-30. The iTunes chart is based on the number of transactions, while Fandango at Home's chart is based on revenue.

The most surprising aspect of Furiosa's box office flop was how well-received it was by critics and audiences alike. The film garnered a Certified Fresh critic score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes while also attaining a nearly identical audience score of 89%. While Furiosa's critic score was slightly below that of Mad Max: Fury Road, which earned a very high critic score of 97%, it actually beat Fury Road's audience score of 86%. This, combined with the fact that Furiosa's exceptional visuals and sound make it a must-see in the theater, makes its poor box office performance even more puzzling.

What Went Wrong With Furiosa's Box Office?

Casting choices and the absence of Tom Hardy may have contributed

It's hard to truly pinpoint exactly why Furiosa flopped so badly at the box office. With a wide release date of May 24, 2024, it opened right in time for the extended Memorial Day Weekend, which in theory should have given the film's opening some type of boost. It could have something to do with the casting of Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular protagonist who, outside of a few M. Night Shyamalan films, hasn't appeared onscreen in too many profitable movies. She starred in the Oscar-contending The Menu alongside Ralph Fiennes, which earned roughly $76 million against a budget of $30 million.

Of course, Taylor-Joy voiced Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. movie, an animated film, so she wasn't necessarily the main pull. The same can be said of Dune: Part Two, which she only appears in for one scene. Taylor-Joy also isn't recognized as an action star, although Chris Hemsworth should have been able to fill some seats in his villainous role as Dementus. Ultimately, there's no definitive method for figuring out what went wrong with Furiosa at the box office, especially because so many of its qualities were aligned for it to become a smash hit.

Could Furiosa Still Become A Success?

Critically it's already a triumph

It is still a long shot for Furiosa to still be considered a certified success after its box office woes, but there are lots of factors that may benefit that position in hindsight. The budget was considerably high even though a good chunk of the funding came from governmental grants in Australia. It's important to that Mad Max: Fury Road wasn't a major hit to begin with and was helped by a strong VOD/home media performance as well. Still, Fury Road's box office gross was much higher than Furiosa's, so maybe it doesn't have much of a shot at pulling itself out of its hole, which is disheartening.

The 2024 box office has been difficult to make sense of at times, with Furiosa's box office failure being one of the main examples of a modern unjustifiable flop. Critically acclaimed films such as Monkey Man and Ordinary Angels have also underperformed drastically despite receiving Rotten Tomatoes scores of 89% and 84% from critics, respectively. It appears that widespread critical acclaim, even with positive audience ratings to back it up, isn't enough to attract a strong box office nowadays. Of course, box office success is still dependent on profit, while modern box office appeal remains more of a mystery.

What's The Future Of Mad Max Looking Like?

Miller should be allowed to make as many as he wants

Critically speaking, the future of Mad Max still looks bright, with each of its five movies being praised by critics. Furiosa was rated the same as the original Mad Max starring Mel Gibson on Rotten Tomatoes, with Fury Road still considered the pinnacle of the franchise. At this point in his career, the 79-year-old George Miller can probably continue to make as many Mad Max movies as he desires for the sake of cinema, although perhaps at slightly lower budgets. Tom Hardy recently expressed that he is doubtful he will appear in another Mad Max film, but there is a possibility Miller will recast that titular part.

The main issue with the modern Mad Max franchise appears to be time. With nearly a decade separating the last two Mad Max movies, Miller would do well to release his next Mad Max film sometime in the next five years, especially since all of that time crafting Furiosa did not necessarily pay off financially. While the acclaimed director is known for other classic movies such as Happy Feet and Lorenzo's Oil, his legacy belongs to the triumph of the Mad Max franchise. It would be shocking if Miller didn't make another Mad Max movie and even worse if a studio didn't allow him to.