Mad Max: Fury Road, in its final form a decade ago, marks the return of the Mad Max franchise to the limelight and is a reminder of why this franchise has been around for so long. It did not take long before the idea of The Wasteland, which would be the prequel that explores the world of the desert planet a year before Furiosa met Max, began to surface. There was certainly an attraction to this type of film, given the character development of Immortan Joe’s kingdom and the wasteland weirdos from Mad Max: Fury Road.
However, it seems that the series is already in development for television, as is now being reported by the Mad Max podcast, Mad Max Bible. This may not be the most pleasing news for some fans, but it does seem that there are some benefits associated with this new development that could potentially do justice to Miller’s vision.
Why George Miller’s Long-Delayed Mad Max Project Is Now Becoming a Series
The concept of Wasteland has actually been around for longer than you might think. George Miller first explored the concept in the 1980s as a television series. When this did not come to fruition, it turned into a video game, a book, and finally a script. It seemed, however, that in 2017 Miller had finally reached the stage at which he could set his sights on making the film incarnation, which would see the return of Tom Hardy from the original film as Max. It seemed, however, that just as this was a reality, everything fell through.
The central conflict is Money, where Miller was a party in a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over his failure to deliver a contractually required bonus, which he felt the studio had denied him after Fury Road. All projects under The Wasteland were shelved indefinitely due to the conflict.
However, things were only about to get more complicated with the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in 2024. While it did very well, it completely bombed at the box office, leading to a loss for Warner Bros. of approximately $120 million. This was the second largest loss experienced by Warner Bros. in this year. Knowing that Miller was already 80 years of age, it would seem completely unlikely that Miller would be able to secure funding for another installment of Mad Max that would be valued at approximately $170 million. However, as reported by Mad Max, it would seem that there are developments taking place within the Bible Miller project. Shaun Grant, who is well known for his success with Nitram, has been introduced to the project to determine whether or not it is feasible to convert the series to a television series. There are a variety of reasons why this development may actually make a certain amount of sense. The streaming giants are paying out huge amounts of money for their prestige television shows, and it seems that Warner Bros. has been focusing on their original content for HBO Max so that they can be one step ahead of everyone else.
From Hardy to Whoever’s Next, The Wasteland Refuses to Die
To include The Wasteland in a television series will make sure that the distribution costs of this film stay low, along with Miller getting the opportunity to expand on the wasteland mythology. The only piece of information about this situation that has been the most blurry is whether or not Tom Hardy will return with Max in the television series. Tom Hardy has shown no interest in either event. In an interview conducted by Forbes in 2023, he simply said, “I don’t think that’s happening.” This has only furthered the odds of a direct sequel actually happening. Hardy has actually had a very tumultuous relationship with the entire production staff. Fury Road had a reputation for being a difficult shoot. With the box office disaster of Furiosa, Warner Bros. might be hesitant to shell out the cash for Hardy’s level of star power. Miller has actually been very understanding, however. Charlize Theron’s decision not to return as Furiosa is one of the things that he has changed about the casting process, and he offered the role to Anya Taylor-Joy in her stead. It would be hard to put a concrete list on actors that Hardy might potentially replace, and if no one is selected to replace him, it would be nothing out of the ordinary to see another person in Max’s famous leather jacket.
