‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Splutters Past First Global Box Office Milestone

It’s one of the biggest box office surprises in recent memory, and after 10 days of release, there appears to be little hope left for Warner Bros.’ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The epic action film dropped from number one last weekend to number three this time around at the domestic box office while continuing to struggle in overseas markets as well. Directed by George Miller, the movie infamously delivered the lowest Memorial Day holiday debut in nearly three decades, and dropped by nearly 60% in weekend two.

Produced on a reported budget of nearly $170 million, Furiosa has grossed $49 million domestically and another $64 from overseas markets, for a cumulative global haul of $114 million. It’s a disheartening result for a movie that had seemingly built intense anticipation over the last few years. It had also been deemed worthy of a high budget, which it initially appeared to justify with stellar reviews. Furiosa currently holds a 90% “fresh” approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes; incidentally, the film’s audience rating is equally strong, meaning that those who watched it enjoyed it.

Furiosa serves as a prequel to Miller’s 2015 masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road, which opened to $45 million domestically, on its way to a lifetime stateside haul of just over $150 million. Fury Road tapped out globally with around $370 million, which wasn’t exactly seen as ideal considering its reported budget of around $180 million. But it was a massive critical success, earning 10 Academy Award nominations and being widely hailed as one of the greatest action movies of all time. It introduced audiences to the character Furiosa, played memorably by Charlize Theron. The prequel features Anya Taylor-Joy as the tragic warrior, who is apprehended by the villainous Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and sold off to the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). She goes on an epic revenge mission in the film, which is divided into five chapters and spans several years.

‘Fury Road’ Made More In Its Global Opening than ‘Furiosa’ Has In 10 Days

The series began in 1979, with the grimy exploitation film Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson in the titular role. Two sequels — Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome — followed in 1981 and 1985. Fury Road served as a franchise reboot, with Tom Hardy stepping into the titular role, but the movie was marred by a turbulent production that reportedly caused animosity between the two stars. The Mad Max series has grossed a combined total of over $600 million worldwide. Also featuring Alyla Browne as the young Furiosa and Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack, Furiosa is currently playing in theaters.

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