Mad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic action multi-media franchise created by James McCausland and George Miller. It began as the 1979 film Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson, and was followed by two sequels: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). The series has since had a lasting influence on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.
A fourth entry in the series, Mad Max: Fury Road, is scheduled to be released on 15 May 2015. The film is expected to be followed-up by a fifth installment, Mad Max: Furiosa.
Films
Mad Max (1979)
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Byron Kennedy. It tells a story of breakdown of society, murder, and vengeance. The film, starring the then-little-known Mel Gibson, was released internationally in 1980. It became a top-grossing Australian film and has been credited for further opening the global market to Australian New Wave films.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Mad Max 2 (also known as The Road Warrior in the U.S., and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. This sequel to Miller's Mad Max was a worldwide box office success that further launched the career of Mel Gibson. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauders follows an archetypal "Western" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity. It also opens with a previously unexplained backstory on the tragic events that led to those in the original film.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (also known as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome or simply Mad Max 3) is a 1985 film, the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise. The film was directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, and starred Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. George Miller, director of the first two Mad Max movies, lost interest in the project after his friend and producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash while location scouting. Miller later agreed to direct the action sequences.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road (also known as Mad Max 4: Fury Road or simply Mad Max 4), the fourth film of the franchise, is an upcoming Australian post-apocalyptic action film co-written and directed by George Miller. While location scouting was reported to be underway in May 2009, production was delayed until June 2012 because rare high levels of rain in the Australian desert detracted from the post-apocalyptic feeling that Miller wanted. Shooting ultimately took place in Namibia, Africa, and the film is scheduled to be released on 15 May 2015. It features British actor Tom Hardy as Mad Max and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. Gibson was originally attached to star in Fury Road during its failed 2003 production attempt. At one time, Miller was also looking into developing the story as a 3D anime film.
Future
Miller and McCarthy found during the writing process for Fury Road that they had enough story material for two additional scripts. One of these, entitled Mad Max: Furiosa, has already been completed, and Miller hopes to film it after the release of Fury Road. In May 2015, during an interview with Esquire magazine, Hardy revealed that he was attached to star in four more Mad Max films following Mad Max: Fury Road.
Cast and crew
Cast
The series features a few reoccurring cast members in different roles. Bruce Spence played an air pilot in two of the films, first as Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2 and then as Jedediah the Pilot in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Hugh Keays-Byrne has taken antagonist roles twice: he played Toecutter in Mad Max and returns as Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road. Max Fairchild appeared as Benno in Mad Max and as "broken victim" of the Humungus's gang in Mad Max 2.
Crew
Reception
Box office performance
Critical and public response
Merchandising
Many licensed products are based on the Mad Max franchise. Products include novels, comic books, video games, and other materials. Although MGM holds the distribution rights to the original film, all other elements including rights to the remaining films, characters, merchandise licensing, and trademarks are the property of Warner Bros.
Novelizations of the first three films have been published by QB Books. The first two novelizations were written by Terry Hayes, who ended up co-writing the script for the second film after getting along well with Miller. A novelization for the third film was written by Joan D. Vinge.
Video games
Mad Max is a 1990 NES game developed and published by Mindscape Inc. based on the film Mad Max 2. The object of the game is to survive life in the post-apocalyptic world by battling survivalists and collecting resources. The game is similar to Outlander which was released in 1992 for Sega Genesis and SNES.
In June 2013 it was revealed at E3 that developer Avalanche Studios would be developing a video game based on the setting of Mad Max. The game will be released in 2015 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. A mobile game developed by Kabam is also in the works.