The female-led sequel to the “Mad Max” series may not have been as successful at the box office as studios had hoped for in the upcoming series, according to reports.
“Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga” finished the Memorial Day long weekend with just $32 million, according to the report. Box Office MojoIt was also the worst Memorial Day opening day for a film to top the box office since 1995, when Casper took the top spot with just $16.8 million.
The film’s budget is estimated at between $168 million and $233 million, which is likely to be high given advertising and marketing costs.
The sequel’s performance will reportedly be an indicator of whether a planned prequel, “The Wasteland,” will be made.
“Mad Max, or any Mad Max movie without the actress who played the title character, would be a hard sell.”
Series creator George Miller told reporters the day after the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that he was waiting to see how “Furiosa” turned out before moving on to his next project.
“I’ll definitely wait to see how this case plays out before I consider it,” he said. The Hollywood ReporterThe outlet also reported that industry sources revealed that the sequel hasn’t even reached the development stage yet, but at the same time, Warner Bros. Studios is said to be very proud of the film.
Another point of contention for the film is its failure to appeal to female audiences, which it achieved by essentially making the lead character a ruthless, tough woman.
In 2015, 40% of the audience for Mad Max: Fury Road’s opening weekend was female, led by Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. For Furiosa, the female share of the audience reportedly dropped to 29%. Though she was the lead, Furiosa was played by relatively unknown actress Anya Taylor-Joy rather than Theron.
The film also struggled with the 18-24 demographic, the most frequent cinema-going demographic, which also saw a 10% drop in viewership from the previous film, from 31% to 21%.
“This doesn’t mean franchises will die; Hollywood clings to IP even after titles flop or fall apart,” the entertainment reporter said. Christian Toto.
“Look at the Terminator series, they were on their knees after not one but two flops, but Mad Max and the movie without the actress who played the title character just won’t sell,” Toto told Blaze News. “Audiences are becoming more and more aware these days that movies are being released faster and faster on video-on-demand — just look at The Fall Guy, which is already available to watch at home.”
Warner Bros. will have to hope that “Furiosa” can blaze a similar trail as “Fury Road,” which debuted domestically with $45.3 million and eventually picked up steam to gross $379.4 million.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get stories like this one directly to your inbox. Register here!
