George Miller’s Furiosa has had a tough time at the box office, and is already on its way to home formats: more here.
Appreciating that it’s the way of the modern cinema world, there’s something mildly dispiriting at seeing something so obviously made for the big screen being sent so quickly to home formats. We’ve talked in recent times here about the cost of a cinema ticket, and of course not everyone can get to the movies anyway. But still: George Miller’s Furiosa film on an IMAX screen is really special, yet the box office numbers suggest that the idea of a Mad Max film on the big screen isn’t something that’s getting people to multiplexes.
And that leads us to here. Warner Bros hasn’t announced a UK date yet, but it’s preparing to launch Furiosa on video on demand services in the US from next Tuesday. That’d be 25th June, and it’s almost certain that the UK will follow suit not long thereafter.
The film is still getting a full physical media release later in the summer, and it won’t be leaving cinemas altogether. But the chance to see Furiosa on the big screen – at least – is diminishing.
What’s also diminishing with it, we’d imagine, is the chance for George Miller to make his planned and written sixth Mad Max adventure, The Wasteland. Tom Hardy is currently out on the promotional trail for his new film The Bikeriders, and he’s been admitting the chances of him returning for that film – for more than one reason, in fairness – are on the slim side. His experience making Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t bring out the best in him, as has been widely discussed.
It’s not the most upbeat tone to this story, you might have noticed, but still: somehow, George Miller get the film through the Hollywood system, and Furiosa very much exists. That’s no small feat. Here’s hoping for a huge success on home formats, and that it encourages more studios to make films on such an ambitious level. Fingers crossed, eh?
