Furiosa crashes and burns at the box office
The fifth film in the Mad Max franchise, with a budget of $343m not including tens of millions in marketing, opens to the worst Memorial Day weekend result in 43 years.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has crashed and burned at the box office.
The George Miller prequel to 2015’s Fury Road is the most expensive Australian film ever made, with a budget of $343m, not including tens of millions in marketing costs.
Despite high expectations and a star-studded cast featuring Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy, who both drew acclaim at its Cannes Film Festival premiere (where the film earned a rapturous seven-minute standing ovation), Furiosa failed to set the box office alight.
Hopes were high for the fifth instalment in Miller’s Mad Max series, especially considering the acclaim of its predecessor, Fury Road, widely regarded as one of the greatest action films ever made, and a recipient of six Oscars.
Projections ranged between US$40mto US$45mfor its opening weekend in North America. However, it managed to gross only a paltry $26.2m over the weekend, and US$32m over the extended four-day period from Thursday night to Sunday.
This marks the worst Memorial Day weekend result in 43 years, following the 1981 comedy Bustin’ Loose, which collected US$24m in 1981.
It didn’t fare much better in Australia, either. Furiosa took $3.3m at the box office over the weekend, significantly lower than the $6.2mFury Road made in its first week at the box office back in 2015.
To add insult to injury, in the US and Canada, Furiosa was almost nudged from the top spot by a lasagne eating cat. Sony’s ill-reviewed and relatively low-budget (US$60m) Garfield, which took in US$24m over the weekend and US$31.1m over the four days.
Globally, Furiosa has earned $97m. Read The Australian’s three star review here.
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