While there are a lot of great sci-fi franchises, there aren’t too many that can be called masterpieces, but Mad Max is one of them. Created by George Miller, the post-apocalyptic, dystopian saga kicked off with Mad Max in 1979 and was followed by two sequels but got a whole new life in 2015 with the release of Mad Max: Fury Road. That film earned wide acclaim, with some calling it one of the best action films ever made, and it was followed by Furiosa in 2024. But while there are questions about what’s next for the franchise, the popularity of both Fury Road and Furiosa aren’t in question. Both films are crushing it on the streaming charts — even on different platforms.
Both Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa have been in the top 10 of their current streaming homes in recent days. Fury Road was recently added to Apple TV and has been dominating there while Furiosa is available on HBO Max and is also in the top of their charts. The two films are quite different, with Fury Road being a continuation of the story and also a huge success and Furiosa being a prequel that bombed at the box office. However, both films’ success on streaming could bode well for the franchise’s overall future.
What’s next for the Mad Max franchise has been a question since the release of Fury Road, but the question became even more significant when Furiosa didn’t quite perform at the box office. As far back as 2015, Tom Hardy, who starred in Fury Road, revealed that he was attached to star in three more films in the franchise and Miller himself even said that he was planning to release a film called Mad Max: The Wasteland that would also be a prequel.. However, we never really heard too much about it after that.
Earlier this year, though, that changed. It was reported that while Warner Bros., who had long distributed the previous Mad Max films, had passed on the next installment, but that Miller was actively looking for a new studio — and there was some interest. Miller has also indicated previously that he is still interested in making another movie. It would seem that it is just a matter of all the pieces falling into place.
Hopefully, the streaming success of both Fury Road and Furiosa across different platforms simultaneously will be exactly what is needed to help those pieces out. Streaming has proven time and again to be a great avenue for new life for good films and television series that may not have gotten the attention or appreciation they deserved when originally released. That definitely seems to be the case for Furiosa, which was a critical success even if its box office receipts were lackluster. We will have to wait and see, but hopefully, we’ll head back to the wasteland once again.
Mad Max: Fury Road is streaming on Apple TV. Furiosa is streaming on HBO Max.
