Mad Max will live to fight another day. Ever since Mad Max: Fury Road blew the socks off audiences back in 2015, there’s been rumblings and discussions of sequels.
It took over a decade to get Fury Road made because of budget, weather, and other issues, so director George Miller is just fine taking his time making another Mad Max movie. But on Friday, Deadline revealed that a sequel is in the works which will follow up to Miller’s beloved hit.
Unfinished Business
Even before Mad Max: Fury Road opened in theaters, made $375M at the worldwide box-office, and stunned moviegoers, Miller was talking about more Mad Max stories. He has plenty more ideas for his post-apocalyptic series, which began in 1979.
In his recent interview with Deadline, he confirmed he hasn’t lost interest in another Mad Max movie and he’s preparing for it:
“I’m not done with the Mad Max story and I think you have to be a multi-tasker and there’s certainly another Mad Max coming down the pike after this. We’re in preparation on that as well. It’s an interesting question, the idea of multi-tasking. I discuss this with other filmmakers and I think what happens to me is that when you’re working on one thing, and you get so distracted and focused on that one thing, it’s like a creative holiday to focus on the other one for a bit. It helps you achieve that objectivity, to look at the thing afresh each time and say, I thought I was doing this, but it doesn’t seem to be the case now.“
George Miller to Deadline
By multitasking, he’s referring to working on his next movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing, which will star Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Miller begins shooting the mystery project early next year. All that’s known about the movie is it’s a love story, possibly involves a genie, and it’s very different from Miller’s past films, which include The Witches of Eastwick, Happy Feet, and Lorenzo’s Oil. He always keeps his career new and interesting, which he’ll continue to do with his next film.
Like Miller says, working on different films at the same time produces different results.
“The more different the films are, the more interesting that is. A really good example: I was working on Happy Feet Two while Fury Road was getting up and then falling down. They couldn’t have been more different. One was animation, the other live-action. It worked for me.“
The best part of the Happy Feet movies, besides the beautiful animation, is the fact it led to Mad Max: Fury Road.
Where Could the Story Go Next?
Miller has talked about some ideas for the future of Mad Max in the past, including a movie focused on the already legendary Furiosa (Charlize Theron).
When these sequels will happen exactly, nobody but Miller probably knows. The wait is making fans understandably antsy as they’re hungry for more wasteland action, but considering how long it took Miller to direct Fury Road, audiences can surely and happily wait for more.
Two Mad Max Sequels Are a Possibility
There are two stories specifically Miller has in mind for future sequels, including the Furiosa story, but he’s still figuring them out. You can’t always rush greatness, as much as rabid fanbases sometimes want to.
Plus, Miller always cautions he’s optimistic rather than saying, “a sequel is definitely going to happen!”
He’s had too many projects fall through to have that naive attitude. Most famously, Justice League, which he was going to direct about a decade ago, fell apart and died a terrible death.
During pre-production, the plug got pulled on the comic book epic, so Miller knows things can go terribly wrong fast. Plans are sometimes no more than plans.
