Visionary filmmaker George Miller isn’t saying never to a 6th “Mad Max” film. He already has what he calls “another script” for the tale. Miller has, for years, teased another post-apocalyptic prequel story, which would come after “Furiosa.” This one would be from Max Rockatansky’s point of view, and directly lead into the 2015 epic “Mad Max: Fury Road.” It would be called, appropriately, “The Wasteland.”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” cleaned up at Vulture’s Stunt Awards this past weekend, taking home the top prize for best achievement in stunts overall for Hayley Wright, who doubled for star Anya Taylor-Joy. Wright is the first woman to win the category, and after seeing the film and it’s behind-the-scenes, we’re in awe all over again.
The topic of another entry into the post-apocalyptic world came up, and we’re again very, very hopeful for another entry.
“There’s lots of stories. Indeed, one of them is a ‘Mad Max.’ We’ve got another script,” Miller told Vulture. “But having been doing this long enough where I’m habituated to storytelling, I find myself with way too many stories — not only in my head, but in the form of screenplays or at least very detailed notes that are within reach of screenplays. I’m a professional daydreamer, really. This was seen as my big deficit as a kid: ‘George would do better at school if he didn’t daydream so much’ was on my report card.”
We kind of love his self-professed ‘professional daydreamer’ title. What a perfect way to describe what he’s done so well for so long. Back in May of 2024, Miller was more direct about a 6th film. “We are certainly working on it,” Miller said. “And as I say, we wrote that basically as a novella, and now we’ve got a chance, we will get that into a screenplay form, and then we’ll take it from there.”
The 6th film would be about “the year of Max’s life leading up to ‘Fury Road,’” and cover some of the 40 Day Wasteland War. Vertigo comics written by Miller, Nico Lathouris, and Mark Sexton were released directly on the heels of “Fury Road” in May of 2015, and told much of that prequel story. Comic adaptations are still all the rage, right? RIGHT?
But “Furiosa” needed to do well enough at the box office to assure Warner Bros. Pictures audiences would indeed want another film. Considering how surprisingly (and unfairly) the film performed, getting a greenlight seems a far stretch. Not an impossible thing, mind you. If you’ll recall, “Fury Road” didn’t break box office records it’s first week out either, but did have legs. There is a chance audiences will continue to grow.
“It is not something I would do next, because there’s two things I’m keen to do next. But if for whatever reason the planets align, you can never tell. Too often, you’re lining up to do a movie and then something happens. Some things fall into place and some don’t, so all I can say is we’ll see.”
We’ll wait for the Wasteland, Dr. Miller. We’ll wait.
