Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga from visionary director George Miller premiered this Memorial Day to lackluster box office returns. It also became the lowest for a Memorial Day weekend in the past three decades. This news shocked many given the accolades for the film and its predecessor Mad Max: Fury Road. The film ended up in a close tie with another major release, Sony’s Garfield movie.
The film’s release stands in the middle of a crossroads for cinema, as it was released in between several ongoing battles within the entertainment industry. Here is a breakdown of the biggest takeaways from Furiosa’s box office performance.
Furiosa’s Box Office
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Furiosa premiered this Memorial Day weekend to only $32 million for the holiday period. To put this number into perspective, it’s the worst opening for a Memorial Day premiere in 29 years, being the lowest since 1995’s Casper. This is especially shocking as this is the beginning of the lucrative summer period and Memorial Day is a huge holiday for theatergoers.
Surprisingly, Furiosa found its rival with Sony’s The Garfield Movie, a fairly standard animated adaptation with mixed reviews. The two ended up racing neck and neck for moviegoers that weekend, with Garfield making $24 million and Furiosa barely beating it with $26.3. For reference, the recent Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes from Fox made nearly twice that with $58 million.
Why This Matters
The biggest shock surrounding this news is that Furiosa was critically acclaimed. The film received universal praise not just as a successor to the original but for being a solid prequel that justified itself. Happy Feet director George Miller has been in the industry for over four decades and rose to fame through his stellar ability to direct action-adventure films.
This news is even more egregious given the film’s predecessor, Mad Max: Fury Road. Fury Road became one of the most legendary films in history with its epic practical effects, visual storytelling, and strong characters. In the decade since its release, it reached the status of being a staple of cinema. Because of this, Furiosa’s underperformance is especially surprising news to many film buffs.
The State of Theaters
Beyond the film‘s mediocre performance, movie theaters have faced worse and wider struggles. The biggest culprit is the pandemic, which put theaters, and every other industry, on hold for nearly a whole year. Four years later, the cinema’s economy is still recovering. Fortunately, there were several exceptions such as No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick. The next biggest cause is the SAG-AFTRA writer’s strike, which delayed the production and release of many films and shows last year.
Every studio has been affected, including the once-dominant MCU and its latest releases. While many see streaming as the successor to the theaters, the industry is riddled with corporate meddling and even the problems of its predecessor, cable. Ultimately, the bombastic experience of the cinema just cannot be replaced by home theaters. Hopefully, Furiosa can cement its cinematic legacy and ride eternal; shiny and chrome.
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