Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: film, furiosa, george miller, mad max

George Miller Reflects on the Success Behind the Mad Max Franchise

The Mad Max cinematic universe has been flourishing for decades now, with the 2015 installment titled Mad Max: Fury Road reinstating popularity across the board. Despite establishing a very committed fandom early on, the post-apocalyptic films feel have proven to be impressively accepted by both critics and blockbuster-hungry viewers in each era.

With an Imperator Furiosa-centric film coming soon (Furiosa, which is currently in production and slated for a 2024 release) and a sequel titled Mad Max: The Wasteland confirmed to be the following chapter, there's evidently a lot of Mad Max content for us to look forward to in the future. In a recent interview with A.V. Club, Mad Max mastermind, writer, and director George Miller offered his take on the timeless popularity that the franchise has uncovered.

Miller first tells the publication, "It's definitely not deliberate. All I think you can do is observe who we are as much as possible, try to get some understanding, and try to tell a story that you hope is persuasive. And I've found that over and over again, all stories, even the best documentaries, are allegorical to some degree. And if they are, that means that there is a poetic dimension to them, meaning that it's interpreted according to the worldview of each member of the audience. That varies—some of it's collective, and others there's not. And I have really, really come to understand that, ever since I began to make movies."

Discussing the international market and reception of the franchise, Miller also notes, "From the first Mad Max, which I thought was specifically [centered in] Australia, I was really quite astonished and didn't understand for a long time why it succeeded in Japan, why they saw it as a samurai movie, why in France they equated it to the American Western, a Western on wheels. Scandinavia saw Max as a lone Viking warrior or a Norse warrior. Until then, I had never heard of Joseph Campbell and just a little bit about [Carl Jung]. But then I suddenly realized the film didn't have those resonances because I was particularly clever. It's that I tapped into something unconsciously. I believe that's happened ever since."

Furiosa will be released in theaters on May 24, 2024.

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