Mad Maxis a very different franchise now than when it started in 1979; George Miller’s post-apocalyptic saga has evolved a lot over the years.The firstMad Maxmoviewas a microbudget production pulled off on a wing and a prayer, while the most recent entry was a mega-budget blockbuster with the backing of a major studio.Mad Maxis perhaps the most unlikely hit franchise in Hollywood history — it’s shamelessly weird and unrelentingly dark.
Over the course of its 45-year history,Mad Maxhas undergone plenty of changes. The scale has gotten bigger, the colors have gotten more vibrant, and the title character has been recast — andMad Maxis still going strong, at least creatively. These are the biggest evolutions in theMad Maxfranchise.
5Max Rockatansky Has Been Recast
In the originalMad Maxtrilogy, the titular role ofMax Rockatansky was played by Mel Gibson. This was the role that put Gibson on the map, long before he would play Martin Riggs in theLethal Weaponfranchise or William Wallace inBraveheart. He made Max an iconic character; the defining archetype of the lone-wolf warrior traversing a lawless post-apocalyptic wasteland, stopping off to save communities in need of a hero.
But when Miller came to make the fourthMad Maxfilm, he recast the role. As awesome as it would’ve been to see an “Old Man Max” movie starring Gibson, Gibson had aged out of the role of Max for the story that Miller wanted to tell inMad Max: Fury Road. Instead, Tom Hardy was cast to put his own stamp on the role.
During the simpler time of the original trilogy, there was a newMad Maxmovie every three years.The Road Warriorarrived three years afterMad Maxin 1982, thenBeyond Thunderdomearrived three years after that in 1985. But then, it would be 30 long years beforeMad Maxfans got a new movie in 2015’sFury Road, and another nine years after that before 2024’sFuriosa.
This is one ofthe longest gaps between sequels in movie history. There were 19 years betweenIndiana Jones and the Last CrusadeandIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. There were 36 years betweenTop GunandTop Gun: Maverick. There were 54 years betweenMary PoppinsandMary Poppins Returns.Mad Max’s three-decade hiatus sits somewhere in the middle.
The budgets of theMad Maxmovies have gotten much, much bigger over the years (viaThe Numbers). The original 1979Mad Maxfilm was a microbudget indie movie produced for just $200,000. Its cult status propelled it to a $99 million box office gross, whichmadeMad Maxthe most profitable movie ever made(a record verified byGuinness). This success allowed the sequels’ budgets to get steadily bigger and bigger.
The Road Warriorwas produced for $2 million, thenBeyond Thunderdomewas produced for $10 million. After a hiatus of a few decades, whenMad Maxcame back in the 2010s, it returned as a mega-scale blockbuster property. Warner Bros. entrusted Miller with a whopping $150 million to makeFury Roadand $168 million to makeFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga. The entire budget of the original film wouldn’t even coverFuriosa’s catering budget.
When he was shooting the originalMad Maxtrilogy, Miller went out into the barren landscapes of the Australian Outback to bring his post-apocalyptic wasteland to life. It had a very dull, dreary palette. But when he came back to make moreMad Maxfilmsin the blockbuster age of the 2010s, he dialed up the brightness and made those colors a lot more vibrant and saturated.
In the 30 years betweenBeyond ThunderdomeandFury Road, CGI was invented and the color-grading process got a lot more advanced. This allowed Miller to turn those barren landscapes into a truly otherworldly vision of a dystopian future. The dunes became a bright orange and the skies became a sumptuous turquoise.
In the original trilogy, theMad Maxseries focused solely on Max. But the more recent entries have expanded beyond Max.Fury Roadfocused more on Furiosa’s quest to liberate Immortan Joe’s wives and get them to the safe haven of the Green Place; Max was more of a supporting player in that story. With the next movie, Miller moved past Max completely and told Furiosa’s origins in a prequel spinoff.
Furiosashowed that there are a lot more stories to tell and a lot more corners to explore in this gonzo post-apocalyptic world. Max is the star of the franchise, but this universe isn’t confined just to him. There are plenty of fascinating characters trying to make their way inMad Max’s ruthless world.
