The one ‘Mad Max’ film fans have been demanding for years is ‘The Wasteland,’ a prequel set a year before ‘Fury Road’ with Tom Hardy in the lead role. Back in 2017, Miller had reportedly entered pre-production on the project and even secured Hardy’s commitment, but progress stalled when Miller sued Warner Bros. for failing to pay him a contractually guaranteed bonus.
After the commercial failure of “Furiosa,” I recently noted that it would take a near-miracle for Miller, now 80, to direct ‘Wasteland’.’ A recent Deadline report claimed that “Furiosa” — despite strong reviews — lost Warner Bros. $120M, making it the studio’s second-biggest money loser of 2024.
Furthermore, Miller recently stated that his next film would not be a ‘Mad Max’ movie. He cited his desire to make ‘Wasteland,’ but admitted the project was on pause. And yet, here’s quite the update.
The definitive “Mad Max” podcast, Mad Max Bible, reports that Miller’s ‘Wasteland’ is currently being reworked into an episodic series. Shaun Grant (“Nitram”) was brought in to write the script. This would make total sense: Warner Bros. is desperately trying to compete in the streaming wars, and HBO Max has been ramping up greenlights regardless of cost.
Miller has been working on ‘The Wasteland’ since the 1980s. It first began as an idea for a TV series, but when that fell through, it evolved into a video game. From there, the project took shape as a book, which eventually inspired a movie script—and now, after all these transformations, it may be returning to its original form as a series once again.
Would Tom Hardy even want to return to the role? If not, Miller would probably not mind recasting. He did just that on “Furiosa” hiring Anya Taylor-Joy to take on the titular role made famous by Charlize Theron in ‘Fury Road.’
Had “Furiosa” succeeded, Miller likely would have gone straight into production on his long-gestating sequel, “Mad Max: Wasteland,” with Tom Hardy. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Hardy has since cast doubt on his return. “I don’t think that’s happening,” he told Forbes.
The main obstacle standing between Miller and another “Mad Max” film has always been money. Would Warner Bros. really approve another $170M entry after “Furiosa’s” performance? Likely not. While the film did eventually find a broader audience on streaming — and its reviews were stellar — it now seems like Miller’s best chance at realizing ‘Wasteland’ will be in the form of a TV series.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.