Why Furiosa Just Flopped

2024's box office bloodbath continues, with Mad Max prequel Furiosa falling far below expectations and grossing just $25.5 million during its opening weekend in North America. If that wasn't bad enough, it also marked the lowest Memorial Day opening since the release of Casper almost 30 years ago.

At this rate, George Miller's post-apocalyptic action flick will be lucky to match its $168 million budget at the global box office.

But given that blockbusters need to gross around 2.5x their budget in order to turn a profit, that leaves it fallling brutally short of the $400 million necessary.

All in all, Furiosa is set to be an historic flop - and a depressing one considering the quality of the film.

Furthermore, Furiosa's financial failure will most likely mark the end of the Mad Max franchise, of which a now-79 year old George Miller has directed every installment.

Though Miller had already announced plans to make a sixth Mad Max film, The Wasteland, it's tough to picture a reality where Warner Bros. gives it the greenlight.

And so, despite receiving strong reviews from most critics and being warmly embraced by die-hard fans of the series, why exactly did Furiosa crater so catastrophically? Let's dig in...

Movie studios and filmmakers need to strike when the iron is hot where hits are concerned. 

Audiences have notoriously short memories and absence generally doesn't make the heart grow fonder - instead, it makes viewers more likely to approach a belated sequel or prequel with considerable skepticism. 

And so, waiting nine years to release a follow-up to Mad Max: Fury Road was definitely a huge mistake. Granted, George Miller's lawsuit against Warner Bros. for unpaid Fury Road earnings left Furiosa in legal limbo for four years alone, but given the critical, awards, and fan response to that film, it shouldn't have taken almost an entire decade to produce the next one. 

By this point, Fury Road's cultural cachet has faded somewhat, and as so many belated follow-ups have proven over the years, if you leave people waiting long enough, it doesn't matter how great the original movie is. 

While a Fury Road prequel would've admittedly been a tricky sell at any point in time, it ideally should've been out less than five years later.