Ridiculous Mad Max Statistic Makes Furiosa's $173 Million Box Office Even More Surprising (2025)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a pivotal installment in the Mad Max franchise, set shortly before the events of the extremely successful Fury Road in the Mad Max timeline, and starring Fury Road's fan-favorite character, Furiosa. Though Furiosa was once expected to be another Mad Max franchise success, it drew criticism for its "fake-looking" special effects and failed to perform financially. Despite largely positive reviews from fans and critics, Furiosa has, perhaps unfairly, been described as a flop, drawing just $173 million at the box office against its enormous and record-breaking budget – a situation that makes one Mad Max stat seem even more shocking.

Furiosa and George Miller's original 1979 Mad Max had some unexpected similarities. They both had revenge as a central theme, Furiosa's bleak ending is tonally similar to Mad Max's, and both movies have a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, the two movies differ drastically in terms of their box-office success. Mad Max was originally a low-budget critical failure, which grew into a record-breaking cult hit over time. Furiosa's enormous budget was unprecedented, and its story was praised, which makes Furiosa's box office failure even more surprising when compared to Mad Max's financial success.

The Original Mad Max Movie Was Made For Only A Fraction Of Furiosa's Budget

Both Mad Max And Furiosa Have Broken Records

Director George Miller was relatively unknown when he made the original Mad Max movie, so he had to make his gritty dystopian revenge story on a tiny budget of just 400,000 Australian dollars (approximately $350,000). The low budget shaped the lore and future of the Mad Max franchise, as Miller only set Mad Max in the future because it was cheaper to shoot in abandoned buildings. Furiosa was made on a $168 million budget, the largest budget ever spent on a Mad Max movie. Their resulting box office figures have made both movies into record-breakers for very different reasons.

Comparing its box-office success with its low budget, Mad Max won a Guinness World Record for being the most profitable movie ever made at the time. Mad Max held this title for 20 years before being overtaken by the found footage horror The Blair Witch Project in 1999. Furiosa currently holds the record for the biggest budget ever used on an Australian movie. However, Furiosa also holds a disappointing Mad Max saga record, with the worst two-week drop in the franchise's history, as revenue dropped by 59% between weeks one and two​ after its release. This discrepancy only highlights the original Mad Max's extraordinary achievement.

How The Original Mad Max's Box Office Compares To Furiosa

Furiosa's Release Timing May Have Affected Its Box Office Success

Furiosa would have had to double its staggering budget to succeed financially, but Furiosa's $173 million box office earnings barely surpassed its budget. It is difficult to compare the older Mad Max movies to Furiosa, as the films were generally cult hits rather than immediate successes. However, the box office figures for the original Mad Max movie and Furiosa clearly indicate their respective success and failure. Mad Max was an unprecedented financial and critical hit, and while Furiosa is undoubtedly a box office bomb, it was not a critical flop.

Furiosa's box office failure may not be connected to the movie itself. Furiosa was released over a three-day Memorial Weekend, during which cinema-going families would be unlikely to choose the R-rated Furiosa over the family-friendly Garfield, which was also released that weekend. Furiosa also runs for 148 minutes and might have been more successful had it been released in a colder month, when watching a long movie indoors would be appealing. If these factors are taken into account, with a different release plan, studios might still take a chance on a sequel to Furiosa despite its financial failure. ​​​​

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

R

Director

George Miller

Release Date

May 24, 2024

Cast

Anya Taylor-Joy , Chris Hemsworth , Tom Burke , Alyla Browne , Nathan Jones , Angus Sampson , Daniel Webber , Lachy Hulme

Runtime

148 Minutes