Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a 2024 post-apocalyptic action film directed and produced by George Miller, co-written with Nico Lathouris. As the fifth installment in Miller’s Mad Max franchise, it serves as a spin-off prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and an origin story for the character Furiosa, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne.

Set 15 to 20 years before Fury Road, the film chronicles Furiosa’s life over a decade, from her abduction by warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) to her rise as an Imperator. Tom Burke stars as Praetorian Jack, a military commander who becomes her ally. Returning cast members from Fury Road include John Howard, Nathan Jones, and Angus Sampson.

Originally intended to be shot alongside Fury Road, Furiosa faced development delays due to salary disputes with Warner Bros. Pictures. Despite these setbacks, several key crew members from Fury Road returned, including co-writer Lathouris, producer Doug Mitchell, composer Tom Holkenborg, costume designer Jenny Beavan, and editor Margaret Sixel. Filming took place in Australia from June to October 2022.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2024, and was released theatrically in Australia on May 23, 2024, followed by a U.S. release the next day. While receiving positive reviews from critics, it underperformed at the box office, grossing $172.8 million against a $168 million budget.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Movie Trailer

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Movie Storyline

Decades after the apocalypse, Australia has become a radioactive wasteland. One of the last sanctuaries with fresh water and agriculture is the Green Place of Many Mothers. While Furiosa and Valkyrie are picking peaches, raiders discover the Green Place. Furiosa tries to sabotage their motorcycles but is captured and taken as a prize for Dementus, the leader of the Biker Horde.

Furiosa’s mother, Mary, pursues the raiders to their camp, killing all but one, who takes Furiosa to Dementus. Furiosa mortally wounds the last raider before he can reveal the Green Place’s location. Mary sneaks into the camp and rescues Furiosa, but Dementus tracks them down. Mary sacrifices herself to buy time for Furiosa to escape, giving her a peach pit as a keepsake. However, Furiosa refuses to leave her mother. Dementus forces Furiosa to watch her mother’s crucifixion. Haunted by his own family’s death, Dementus adopts Furiosa, hoping she will lead him to the Green Place.

Later, Dementus attacks the Citadel, another settlement with fresh water and agriculture. However, his Horde is repelled by the War Boys, the army of Citadel warlord Immortan Joe. Dementus then captures Gastown, an oil refinery that supplies the Citadel. During peace negotiations, Joe recognizes Dementus’s control over Gastown and increases its food and water supplies in exchange for the Horde’s physician and Furiosa. Furiosa, now with a star chart tattooed on her arm to find her way home, is imprisoned with Joe’s “wives” inside a vault. After Rictus, Joe’s son, shows interest in her, Furiosa devises an escape plan. She uses a wig made from her own hair to slip away from Rictus.

Disguised as a mute teenage boy, Furiosa works her way up the ranks of Joe’s men over a decade, helping build the War Rig, a heavily armed supply tanker. She plans to escape by hiding on the Rig when Joe sends his top driver, Praetorian Jack, on a supply run. Disillusioned with Dementus, his lieutenant, The Octoboss, goes rogue and attacks the Rig. Furiosa and Jack team up to defeat him, and Jack offers to train her to escape if she helps him rebuild his crew. Furiosa becomes Jack’s second-in-command and is promoted to Praetorian. They bond and plan to escape together, seeing an opportunity when Joe decides to attack Gastown.

Dementus ambushes them at the Bullet Farm, a mining facility allied with the Citadel. Furiosa and Jack barely escape, but Jack is tortured to death by Dementus. Furiosa escapes by severing her own injured arm, sacrificing her star map. A lone man watches as she struggles back to the Citadel, where she and Joe’s aide, The People Eater, plan to counter Dementus. Dementus is lured into a trap at the Citadel, and the War Boys crush the Horde in a 40-day war. Having lost her path home, Furiosa shaves her head again, replaces her arm with a mechanical prosthetic, and pursues the fleeing Dementus.

After an extended chase, Furiosa subdues Dementus in the desert. She imprisons him at the Citadel, using his living body as fertilizer to grow a peach tree from her mother’s seed. Joe promotes Furiosa to Imperator, giving her command of a new War Rig. She meets Joe’s five breeder wives in the vault where she was once imprisoned. The night before another supply run, the “Five Wives” hide in Furiosa’s Rig, setting the stage for new adventures.

Box Office

• Budget
  • $168,000,000 (estimated)
• Gross US & Canada
  • $67,475,791
• Opening weekend US & Canada
  • $26,326,462
  • May 26, 2024
• Gross worldwide
  • $172,775,791

Technical Space

• Runtime2 hours 28 minutes
• Color
  • Color
• Sound mix
  • IMAX 6-Track
  • Dolby Surround 7.1
  • Dolby Atmos
  • Auro 11.1
  • D-Cinema 96kHz Dolby Surround 7.1
  • Sonics-DDP
  • DTS:X
  • Dolby Digital
  • 12-Track Digital Sound
• Aspect ratio
  • 2.39 : 1

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