Is The ‘Mad Max’ Sequel Dead? George Miller Drops Out As Director
Recent news has been revealed about the potential for Mad Max sequels, and fans may or may not be disappointed. Mad Max: Fury Road had a decent following and even some award nods, but even with this success, it seems director George Miller may be following the example set by George Lucas.
After the Star Wars prequels proved that the franchise can be done wrong, Lucas eventually decided to let someone else direct further films. Depending on who you ask, this was either a big mistake or the best thing that has happened to the saga of Jedi and Sith since Episode VI. Many are calling The Force Awakens a blatant copy of A New Hope, while others see enough differences that the similarities don’t bother them.
Mad Max: Fury Road has suffered from similar opinions. Some are calling it a cinematic masterpiece, while others say it’s just an overrated chase movie. However, this may not be part of the real reason why George Miller has decided not to direct any more Mad Max sequels or possible spin-offs.
Miller had revealed his decision to Page Six, “I’ve shot in Australia in a field of wild flowers and flat red earth when it rained heavily forever. We had to wait 18 months and every return to the US was 27 hours. Those Mad Maxes take forever. I won’t do those anymore.”
Further complicating the process was the fact that Miller had originally tried to film Fury Road in New South Wales in 2010, but had to move production to Africa. There, he’d encountered problems with environmentalists protesting the damage the film would create for the African desert’s ecosystem, according to the Guardian.
It seems George Miller doesn’t want to face the headache of trying to make another Mad Max sequel. This announcement came mere days after he’d told the press he wanted to make a spin-off featuring Imperator Furiosa, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
The idea had created some positive buzz on the internet, despite the common criticism that Fury Road was already a movie about Furiosa. The film’s two losses at the Golden Globes may have made George Miller decide it wasn’t worth all of that effort to make a film which wouldn’t earn enough to recover the costs and justify a sequel.
Much like George Lucas, Miller may have decided that his labor of love just wasn’t worth the effort any more. This doesn’t mean there won’t be a Mad Max sequel, though. Again, much like Lucas, Miller may simply be leaving the door open for another director to take over the franchise.
We suggest 10 Directors to take on Mad Max’s wasteland after the departure of George Miller: https://t.co/YDwHUgzTGr pic.twitter.com/010t2RW8oP
— Audiences Everywhere (@WeTalkMovies) January 13, 2016
Unfortunately, George Miller dropping out could receive the same reaction Michael Bay faced when he tried to get out of directing Transformers 5. Anyone else might feel that they simply can’t handle the pressure to take over, making Miller the only one who could bring the franchise back, and leaving it dead in the dirt like a forgotten warboy cruiser.
It would, indeed, be difficult to fill Miller’s proverbial shoes for a Mad Max sequel, if whoever takes over wants to continue the tradition of practical effects and realistic character injuries. These days, it usually ends up in the CG department, where what we see is all computer generated effects and green screen. Fans might not be happy seeing the film franchise take the “easy way out” with its location and effects.
Unless a director comes along with George Miller’s passion for realism, there might never be a Mad Max sequel after Fury Road which pleases the fan base.
[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]
