Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga leads VOD charts after its disappointing theatrical run. Directed by George Miller, the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road sees Anya Taylor-Joy step into the role of Furiosa, charting the character’s origins and evolution into the character seen in the 2015 movie. Although the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga reviews were generally very positive from critics, the film has been a failure at the box office, grossing only $171.3 million worldwide.

Now, IndieWire reports that Furiosa occupies the top position on two VOD charts. The film, which is available for digital purchase at $24.99, comes in at number one on the iTunes VOD chart for Monday, July 1, and has the same position on a Fandango at Home chart for the week of June 24 – 30. The iTunes chart is tabulated by number of transactions, while Fandango at Home’s chart is organized by revenue.

Furiosa’s Theatrical Performance Explained

Why The Mad Max Movie Underwhelmed

Made on an estimated budget of $168 million, Furiosa‘s box office haul of $171.3 million comprises $67.1 domestic and $104.2 from overseas. Using the traditional Hollywood formula to calculate a movie’s break-even point, Furiosa probably needed to earn well over $400 million to become profitable, though this figure could actually be closer to $300 million if the film’s Australian tax incentives are taken into account. Even if the real break-even point is lower, the Mad Max movie has not been a success and is unlikely to become one from digital sales.

Fury Road has been celebrated as one of the best action movies of the last century, and Furiosa has a 90% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes on top of an 89% audience score. Despite this, people just didn’t show up to the theater for the new movie. While Fury Road was a major critical success, it’s worth remembering that the movie wasn’t actually a box office smash hit, and was really more of a modest success at $379.4 million worldwide. With the prequel having disappointed, it’s clear now that the Mad Max franchise just doesn’t have a broad audience appeal.

Other factors could include the fact that it’s a prequel with no major returning stars from Fury Road, and that Max himself isn’t a part of the movie. Taylor-Joy has an impressive resume and is evidently a talented actor, but she also wasn’t a proven box office draw. Unfortunately, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga‘s failure means a new entry in the franchise is unlikely to get the green light anytime soon.

Source: IndieWire