Does ‘Furiosa’ have the same Oscar potential as ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’?
George Miller‘s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Story” has been on quite a journey, which started by premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a glorious standing ovation and similarly gushing reviews. For all intents and purposes, it looked like it would be another commercial win for the Oscar-winning Australian filmmaker.
The movie then opened in theaters over Memorial Day weekend, and though it finished at number-one, its launch numbers were considerably lower than Miller’s prior film, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” in 2015. In fact, it grossed just $50.9 million domestically in 12 days, compared to the $45.4 million made by “Fury Road” in its opening three days.
The opening for “Fury Road” was actually considered disappointing for the time, since it was opening at a time when franchise sequels were racking up $70 million, $80 million and much more in their debut weekends. And yet, the popularity of “Fury Road” among those who did see it led to it receiving 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a first-ever directing nom for Miller. It won six Oscars, all in below-the-line categories.
If you’re one of the people who decided to skip “Furiosa” in theaters or have been living under a very heavy rock, it’s a prequel to “Fury Road,” starring Emmy nominee Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) as the title character, who was played by Charlize Theron in the 2015 film. It also stars Chris Hemsworth as the primary baddie.
Even though reviews have been great, and Miller is working with some of the same craftspeople who won Oscars for “Fury Road,” the discourse about the film being a flop seems to have overpowered any and all adoration for Miller’s latest offering in terms of its quality. One wonders if that might hurt “Furiosa’s” chances of replicating “Fury Road’s” Oscar success, but let’s explore.
There are people in the industry who have shared their praise for Miller’s latest venture, but to the public at large, and that includes a number of academy members too, it’s going to be seen as a bigger money-losing flop than “Fury Road,” and that could overshadow what’s on the actual screen in the eyes of some.
But we now get 10 Best Picture nominations every year, so might “Furiosa” be one of them, over any of the movies already released and those still to come? We should consider that this is a prequel to an Oscar-nominated film, which could be seen as a hindrance as voters might feel they’ve already been there and done that, keeping Miller from getting into the directing race again. It’s doubtful that Taylor-Joy or Hemsworth will get acting noms; Taylor-Joy doesn’t actually appear as the title character until an hour into the movie. Best Adapted Screenplay also seems doubtful, since “Fury Road” didn’t even get a writing nomination.
That leaves the below-the-line categories. (Note that “Fury Road” won both Sound Editing and Sound Mixing when they were two categories; now there’s just one race for Best Sound.) The production design by Colin Gibson, who won the Oscar in that category for “Fury Road,” seems to be the most logical craft to nominate, as well as the editing by Oscar winner Margaret Sixel and Eliot Knapman.
Miller hired cinematographer Simon Duggan to shoot this one, rather than John Seale, who was nominated for “Fury Road.” Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan is so beloved in the costume designers branch of the academy that she could get her 11th nomination as well, but she might have more competition this year, as will Tom Holkenborg‘s score.
It may be too early to tell whether “Furiosa” will have the kind of legs and support needed to get to Oscar night, especially since Warner Bros. also has Denis Villeneuve‘s sci-fi sequel “Dune: Part Two” in the mix. Even so, there’s enough quality on screen and Miller has enough of a talented crew with previous academy support that it’s doubtful to go without at least a few nominations when they’re announced in January.
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