George Miller Created an Entirely Different 'Fury Road' Sequel, But We May Never See It (2024)

The original Mad Max film trilogy was a series of groundbreaking science fiction films that proved George Miller was a genius of action filmmaking. Miller had outlined a vision of the post-apocalypse that felt unique within the genre, as the combination of Western influences, vehicular conflict, elaborate character designs, and a very dark sense of humor was unlike anything viewers had seen before. While the first three films were hailed as classics, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road was instantly hailed as one of the greatest action movies ever made, becoming the highest-grossing entry in the franchise thus far. The critical and commercial success of Mad Max: Fury Road fueled Miller’s ambitions to tell more stories in his cinematic universe.

One of the most surprising aspects of Mad Max: Fury Road is that the titular protagonist wasn’t the character audiences were most enamored with. Charlize Theron’s performance as the vengeful Imperator Furiosa became an instant action icon, which eventually led Miller to direct the prequel film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy. While Miller has teased another prequel project, the future of Tom Hardy’s Max will likely depend on how Miller chooses to prioritize his attention going forward.

Mad Max: Fury Road

R

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Thriller

Release Date

May 13, 2015

Director

George Miller

Cast

Tom Hardy , Charlize Theron , Nicholas Hoult , Hugh Keays-Byrne , Josh Helman , Nathan Jones

Runtime

120

The Road to 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Was Not Easy

While it’s often ranked as the saga’s best entry, Mad Max: Fury Road has a notoriously difficult production cycle. Miller had originally planned to develop a direct sequel to 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome that would have featured Mel Gibson reprising the titular role, but a lack of proper funding and delays due to 9/11 kept the project in development hell for several years. By the time that Miller was able to begin pre-visualizing the film and scouting locations, he recognized that Gibson was too old for the role, and decided to cast Hardy in his place. However, the film was met with continuous delays amidst its production, and was pushed back three years past its originally intended release date.

In the immediate aftermath of Mad Max: Fury Road's premiere, Hardy confirmed that he was signed on to star in three Mad Max films. Miller announced that the sequel Mad Max: The Wasteland was in development, and would not feature Theron reprising her role as Furiosa. Unfortunately, forward momentum on the franchise was brought to a grinding halt due to a series of lawsuits that Miller had to resolve about unpaid earnings regarding the production of Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller was able to make his passion project Three Thousand Years of Longing in the interim period, and later announced the Furiosa spinoff in 2020.

Given the chaotic behind-the-scenes process of bringing the franchise to life, Mad Max: The Wasteland may take several years to develop. Miller mentioned that the film’s script was not yet ready. While he's taken the time to outline the backstories of many characters within the Mad Max universe, Furiosa was the only project that was developed as a complete narrative. Working the film into Hardy’s busy schedule may also be an issue. While Hardy confirmed his enthusiasm about reprising his role, the continued success of his role as Eddie Brock in the Venom superhero franchise may present some roadblocks if further sequels are developed following the release of Venom: The Last Dance in the spring.

What Would 'Mad Max: The Wasteland' Be About?

While Miller has remained enigmatic about story details for the next Mad Max film, he revealed that The Wasteland is a prequel that takes place before Mad Max: Fury Road. Fans will remember that at the beginning of Fury Road, Hardy’s Max is fleeing his tragic past in the desert before he is captured by the ruthless warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and forced to team up with Furiosa. It’s unclear if Miller has any interest in connecting Hardy’s Max to the original trilogy. While Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome ends with Gibson’s Max helping free a group of runaway children, it’s unclear if Miller is interested in bridging any continuity between the two iterations of the franchise. Given the controversy surrounding Gibson’s off-screen antics, it’s possible Miller may want to forgo any strong connection.

While his comments suggest that The Wasteland is still a priority, Miller has a history of developing ambitious projects that never saw the light of day. Miller had famously been hired to direct a live-action Justice League film that would have united Batman (Armie Hammer), Superman (DJ Cotrona), Wonder Woman (Megan Gale), Green Lantern (Common), Aquaman (Santiago Cabrera), and Martian Manhunter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) on screen for the first time. Disputes with the Australian Film Commission and the 2008 WGA strike caused the project’s cancellation, leading Warner Brothers to launch the DC Extended Universe with Zack Snyder.

The Future of Mad Max Will Likely Depend on 'Furiosa'

If the box office of last summer has taught the film industry anything, it’s that franchises once considered to be “safe bets” may not be guaranteed success. Highly anticipated films like The Flash, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One all seriously underperformed. Mad Max: The Wasteland may be in trouble if Furiosa continues to underperform, as it could signify that audiences are no longer interested in Miller’s universe. Conversely, Furiosa overperforming could lead to the development of more sequels with Taylor-Joy instead of another prequel with Hardy. That being said, Fury Road wasn't exactly a massive box-office success either, and Furiosa still happened.

While he continues to surpass expectations with each subsequent projects, Miller is 79 years old and may want to prioritize his projects going forward. Given the extended development hell that Mad Max: Fury Road went through, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he chose a smaller, more intimate project like Babe: Pig in the City as his next film.

Mad Max: Fury Road is streaming on Max in the U.S.

Watch on Max