12 Movies From The Past Decade That Bummed Me Out When They Didn’t Become Massive Hits

The last decade of film has given audiences a plethora of great box office successes, from Barbie to Deadpool & Wolverine, but not every great movie enjoys that same success. This is hardly new for the entertainment business, and many of us have had to see excellent projects from some of our favorite directors go down in flames. Still, it’s hard to get over just how badly some of these films bombed, and what that meant for their respective directors and genres.

As much as we’d like it to be otherwise, quality doesn’t always translate into box office success, and everything from small artsy movies to ambitious franchise entries have fallen flat. While I understand no movie deserves to be a hit, the impact that some flops have had extend beyond just a single bad year. From setting entire genres back with studios to signaling a decline in franchises, I can’t help but feel bummed out that these films didn’t reel in a wider audience.

12

Scoob! (2020)

Directed By Tony Cervone

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Scoob!

PG

Animation

Comedy

Family

Mystery

ScreenRant logo

3/10

Release Date

July 8, 2020

Runtime

93 Minutes

Director

Tony Cervone

Writers

Matt Lieberman, Jack Donaldson, Adam Sztykiel, Derek Elliott, Chiranjiv Makwana

Cast

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  • Headshot oF Will Forte

    Will Forte

  • Headshot Of Frank Welker

    Frank Welker

Scoob! is an animated film that revisits the origins of the Mystery Inc. gang. Directed by Tony Cervone, the movie follows Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne as they team up to thwart a global “dogpocalypse” instigated by the villain Dick Dastardly. Featuring the voices of Frank Welker, Will Forte, Zac Efron, Gina Rodriguez, and Amanda Seyfried, the film combines familiar characters with a fresh, action-packed adventure.

Main Genre

Animation

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Atlas Entertainment, 1492 Pictures

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Like millions of people around the world, I have a soft spot for Scooby-Doo. Once a genuine powerhouse of a Saturday-morning cartoon franchise, the Great Dane and his friends have slowly lost the attention of kids. In 2020’s Scoob!, Warner Bros. tried to change that by bringing an all-star voice cast together for a 3D animated, big-budget movie. Pairing the gang with Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon against Dick Dastardly and Muttley, the film was ambitious, even if a bit bloated.

For me, it wasn’t so much that I felt Scoob! was an amazing film, and I’d rank it somewhere around the middle of its franchise. Rather, it was what the film represented and its potential. Here, Warner Bros. had the chance to reinvigorate public interest in Scooby and the gang, and even spark a Hanna-Barbera universe. Unfortunately, the pandemic combined with its jumbled plot converged to make it one of the year’s biggest flops — likely killing Mystery Inc’s future cinematic prospects.

11

Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One (2024)

Directed By Kevin Costner

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Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1

R

Drama

Western

ScreenRant logo

7/10

85

8.6/10

Release Date

June 28, 2024

Runtime

181 Minutes

Director

Kevin Costner

Writers

Jon Baird, Kevin Costner

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Kevin Costner In The Premiere Of Horizon: An American Saga

    Kevin Costner

  • Headshot Of Sienna Miller In The Los Angeles premiere of 'Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1'

    Sienna Miller

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is a Western film directed by Kevin Costner, and sees him in the starring role. The film explores multiple generations surrounding the expansion of the American West before and after the Civil War. Horizon is the first in a series of four films, all of which were greenlit by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Main Genre

Western

Studio(s)

New Line Cinema, Territory Pictures

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Being a Western fan in the 21st century can often be bittersweet. While we’ve been able to experience some true masterpieces of the genre, from Open Range to There Will Be Blood, the box office returns are almost never promising. In Horizon: An American Saga, Kevin Costner tried to reverse this trend by crafting a truly epic piece of cinema, one that explores the founding of the American West through a small town: Horizon, Texas.

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I went into Horizon understanding that it wasn’t the full picture, and news that Costner was planning a combined four-part saga had me excited. When I saw the stunning failure at the box office, I couldn’t help but empathize with its director, knowing how much he’d gone through to make it happen. Horizon’s failure signals a bleak future for both epic Westerns and truly ambitious original film-making. This is the kind of film that cinephiles should reward.

10

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Directed By Denis Villeneuve

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Blade Runner 2049

R

Sci-Fi

Action

Drama

Mystery

ScreenRant logo

8/10

7.7/10

Release Date

October 6, 2017

Runtime

163 Minutes

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Writers

Michael Green, Hampton Fancher

Prequel(s)

Blade Runner

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Ryan Gosling In The Paris premiere of 'The Fall Guy'

    Ryan Gosling

  • Headshot Of Harrison Ford In The 29th Annual Critics' Choice Awards

    Harrison Ford

Set thirty years after the original film, Blade Runner 2049 is a sci-fi neo-noir film by the director of Dune, Denis Villeneuve. The film follows LAPD replicant officer K, who discovers a devastating secret that could throw society into total chaos. To stop a potential war between replicants and humans, he’ll need to locate missing former blade runner Rick Deckard and uncover the truth.

Studio(s)

Alcon Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Scott Free Productions, Bud Yorkin Productions, Torridon Films, 16:14 Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Set in a dystopian world where rogue self-aware androids are hunted by elite police, Blade Runner explores themes of life, sentience and freedom. Thirty-five years after the original, Denis Villeneuve took sci-fi fans back to Ridley Scott’s world, focusing on a replicant blade runner who begins to believe he’s the child of Deckard and Rachael. In this film, the audience is given something both familiar and new, building on what made the original great from a fresh perspective.

Much like the original, it has the almost universal admiration of everyone who saw it, but, like many cyberpunk movies, didn’t appeal to the wider mainstream moviegoer.

Considering how much respect Ridley Scott’s classic has accumulated over the years, as well as Villeneuve’s following, I truly believed Blade Runner 2049 would be a hit. While its box office draw was nothing to scoff at, it failed to turn a profit. Much like the original, it has the almost universal admiration of everyone who saw it, but, like many cyberpunk movies, didn’t appeal to the wider mainstream moviegoer.

9

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Directed By James Gunn

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The Suicide Squad

R

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Science Fiction

ScreenRant logo

8/10

39

8/10

Release Date

August 5, 2021

Runtime

132 minutes

Director

James Gunn

Writers

James Gunn

Prequel(s)

Suicide Squad

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Margot Robbie In The 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony

    Margot Robbie

  • Headshot Of Viola Davis In The Literacy Partners Evening of Readings & Gala Dinner at Pier Sixty

    Viola Davis

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad acts as a soft reboot for David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is again recruiting a group of superheroes for a dangerous mission, this time pairing Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Savant (Michael Rooker), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), and Javelin (Flula Borg).

Main Genre

Superhero

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

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In contrast to the MCU, DC’s cinematic universe has stumbled since it started, with as many duds as successes. When James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad released, we got an interesting blend between the colorful, energetic tone of Marvel movies with the darker antiheroes of DC. The plot and formula just worked, outperforming the previous Suicide Squad movie at almost every level. Unfortunately, with theaters still recovering from the pandemic, as well as the messy situation at DC, it flopped.

The Suicide Squad signaled that, much as was the case with Marvel, DC had the potential to make great films out of obscure characters. Fortunately, James Gunn has since been handed creative control over DC Studios, but his 2021 movie could still bode poorly for upcoming projects like Superman. There was a moment where the company’s direction could have taken a turn for the worse, but the success of sequel the series Peacemaker proved the problem didn’t lie with Gunn.

8

Bad Times At The El Royale (2018)

Directed By Drew Goddard

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Bad Times at the El Royale

R

Mystery

Thriller

ScreenRant logo

8/10

6.7/10

Release Date

October 4, 2018

Runtime

142 Minutes

Director

Drew Goddard

Writers

Drew Goddard

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Nick Offerman

    Nick Offerman

  • Headshot Of Cailee Spaeny In The Los Angeles Special Screening Of A24's 'Civil War'

    Cailee Spaeny

Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale is a noir thriller film that follows an ensemble cast of six strangers who all find themselves spending the night at a border hotel known as the El Royale – each harboring a dark secret that will unfold to the viewers and each other as the night progresses. As the strangers’ stories begin to intersect, the Lake Tahoe Hotel’s own dark secrets will make their efforts to bury the past a bit more complicated than they’d hoped.

Main Genre

Crime

Studio(s)

20th Century

Distributor(s)

20th Century

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Sometimes, a director is lucky enough to make an artsy, stylish movie that is simply unique in its decade. For Drew Goddard, that film was Bad Times at the El Royale, a crime thriller set in the 1960s that revolves around a group of strangers at an isolated hotel. The premise and cast alone were enough to reel me in, and what followed was one of the most captivating works of suspense of the decade.

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Bad Times at the El Royale came off as a more subdued, Tarantinoesque crime story, one that made great use of non-linear storytelling to get the audience to care for its characters. However, like so many smaller productions of the last decade, this excellent caper went completely unnoticed by the vast majority of people. Movies like this used to become hits on the home video market but, in a world of streaming, seems doomed to obscurity.

7

Cold Pursuit (2019)

Directed By Hans Petter Moland

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Cold Pursuit

R

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

ScreenRant logo

5/10

Release Date

February 7, 2019

Runtime

118 minutes

Director

Hans Petter Moland

Writers

Frank Baldwin, Kim Fupz Aakeson

Cast

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    William Forsythe

  • Headshot Of Liam Neeson In The UK premiere of Marlowe

    Liam Neeson

Starring Liam Neeson, Cold Pursuit is an Action and Thriller film released in 2019 and written by Frank Baldwin. With direction from Hans Petter Moland, the film sees a Colorado snow plot driver begin taking vengeance on a group of drug runners after his son dies from a drug overdose.

Studio(s)

StudioCanal

Distributor(s)

StudioCanal, Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment

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Since the decline of the Taken franchise, Liam Neeson has become something of the king of small and independent crime movies that go unnoticed by the mainstream. In Cold Pursuit, I actually think he gave audiences perhaps the best film he’s made since his 2008 hit. Following a vengeful father waging a one-man war against a local crime boss, the film brilliantly combines satire, dark humor and action.

Cold Pursuit is best described as a modern, artsy homage to Fargo with a revenge makeover. Fans of the likes of Guy Ritchie and the Coen Brothers alike could have found something to love in this film, and there’s no doubt in my mind it will earn the status of cult classic. This is the type of film that people who lament the dominance of superhero films should have rewarded, from its excellent humor to its emotional revenge story. It’s just a shame so few people know it exists.

6

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Directed By James Mangold

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

PG-13

Action

Adventure

ScreenRant logo

6/10

16

7.3/10

Release Date

June 30, 2023

Runtime

2 hours and 2 minutes

Director

James Mangold

Writers

Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, James Mangold

Prequel(s)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Boyd Holbrook

    Boyd Holbrook

  • Headshot Of Thomas Kretschmann In The HBO's

    Thomas Kretschmann

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth entry in the Indiana Jones franchise, directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford in his final portrayal of the titular character. The film will see Jones in 1969 on an adventure with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, as they find themselves in the middle of an uneasy space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, with the former enlisting the help of former Nazis with ulterior motives.

Studio(s)

Lucasfilm

Distributor(s)

Disney

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After the franchise was almost killed following the widely-panned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Disney revived Indiana Jones in 2023’s Dial of Destiny. Helmed by James Mangold, the film straddled the line between science fiction and mythology, sending Jones and his newest companions on a hunt for the Antikythera Mechanism. After watching the film, I was certain its quality and spirit would speak for itself and carry it to modest box office success. Unfortunately, it turned into the year’s biggest flop.

To me, this film signaled a studio finally investing in giving fans what they want, and it led to a charming adventure that nailed its period and characters.

Kingdom of the Crystal was a complete mess of a movie and, if anything else, Dial of Destiny should be applauded for putting some heart back in the franchise. To me, this film signaled a studio finally investing in giving fans what they want, and it led to a charming adventure that nailed its period and characters. Audiences saw it differently, and it’s sadly unlikely Disney will return to the franchise or big-budget adventure for a while.

5

The Covenant (2023)

Directed By Guy Ritchie

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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

R

Action

Drama

War

Release Date

April 21, 2023

Runtime

123 Minutes

Director

Guy Ritchie

Writers

Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies, Guy Ritchie

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Jake Gyllenhaal

    Jake Gyllenhaal

  • Headshot Of Dar Salim In The 74th Berlin International Film Festival

    Dar Salim

  • Headshot Of Antony Starr In The Premier Of The Boys

    Antony Starr

  • Headshot Of Alexander Ludwig In The Los Angeles Premiere of STARZ

    Alexander Ludwig

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is an action-packed war drama film that follows two men caught in the middle of Afghanistan trying to extract themselves from the conflict safely. After Sergeant John Kinley and his interpreter Ahmed are ambushed, Ahmed saves John’s life. However, upon learning that Ahmed and his family will be left behind despite promises from the United States to bring them back, John returns to the battlefield and save his family before the pursuing Taliban catch them.

Studio(s)

STXfilms, Toff Guy Films

Distributor(s)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Throughout the last decade, Guy Ritchie has moved beyond the comedy-crime movies that made him famous and into the realm of action and thriller. While these films aren’t to the liking of all of his fans, I’ve enjoyed them, and I can confidently say The Covenant is one of his best movies. Focusing on a veteran’s quest to rescue an Afghan translator from the Taliban, the film does a brilliant job of building on its heroes’ sense of duty, loyalty and doing the right thing.

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The Covenant is one of the best modern war movies we’ve had since American Sniper, and it did a great job of highlighting the situation in Afghanistan. It’s interesting to see a war movie that doesn’t rely too heavily on flashy effects and combat sequences. I’d rank it as the director’s best movie since Snatch, and I can’t figure out why audiences didn’t have any interest in seeing it.

4

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

Directed By Guy Ritchie

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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Not Yet Rated

Action

Comedy

Drama

ScreenRant logo

6/10

9.2/10

Release Date

April 19, 2024

Runtime

120 Minutes

Director

Guy Ritchie

Writers

Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Arash Amel, Guy Ritchie

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Henry Cavill In The World premiere of 'Argylle'

    Henry Cavill

  • Headshot Of Eiza González In The V&A Summer Party 2024

    Eiza González

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a World War II film following a top-secret combat unit who were formed by Winston Churchill to hunt down Nazis. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the book The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops by Damien Lewis.

Main Genre

Action

Studio(s)

Black Bear, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Toff Guy Films

Distributor(s)

Lionsgate

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Since Inglourious Basterds, the war genre has made a push into the realm of pulpy action, embracing a zany, ultra-violent tone. In The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Guy Ritchie brought to life the true story behind one of Britain’s most effective special forces units, which innovated new ways of killing Nazis. Despite a fun premise, A-list director and powerful cast, the movie was perhaps the biggest box office disappointment of 2024.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare feels to me like one of those action movies that, in ten years or so, people will look back and ask why they don’t make them like that anymore. It’s an adventurous epic that combines the scale of a Mission: Impossible film with the buddy dynamic of a good Tarantino flick — pure, unadulterated escapism at its best. The worst part for me was seeing the enthusiasm of its cast while marketing it, knowing their passion wasn’t enough to carry it to victory.

3

The Hunt (2020)

Directed By Craig Zobel

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The Hunt

R

Horror

Action

ScreenRant logo

5/10

11

8/10

Release Date

March 13, 2020

Runtime

90 Minutes

Director

Craig Zobel

Writers

Nick Cuse, Damon Lindelof

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Hilary Swank

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Ike Barinholtz

Set against a politically strained backdrop, The Hunt is a horror-action film that follows a group of captured Americans who are set loose in a booby-trapped ground where wealthy elite citizens hunt them for sport. As the game progresses, the elites notice something is off – and they’re right. One of the unwilling participants knows the game better than they do, and she aims to turn the tables on them.

Studio(s)

Universal Pictures

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

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When Blumhouse announced, amidst growing political tensions in the US, that it was producing a movie about liberals hunting conservatives for sport, the internet almost universally spoke out. In a rare move for a film studio, the company actually embraced the controversy for its marketing, plastering the poster with criticism from people who hadn’t yet seen it. Unfortunately, Universal’s decision to postpone its release to early 2020 landed it at the heart of the outbreak of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Rather than take sides in politics, the movie instead satirizes the excesses of both sides, delivering a fantastic action movie in the process.

It’s unclear just how well The Hunt would have performed without theater closures, but even after release, so many criticisms of the movie revealed that people still hadn’t watched it. Rather than take sides in politics, the movie instead satirizes the excesses of both sides, delivering a fantastic action movie in the process. What could have been 2020’s best action movie became one of its most obscure, symbolizing the devastation the pandemic wrought on Hollywood.

2

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning (2023)

Directed By Christopher McQuarrie

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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Crime

ScreenRant logo

9/10

8/10

Release Date

July 12, 2023

Runtime

164 minutes

Director

Christopher McQuarrie

Writers

Christopher McQuarrie

Prequel(s)

Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Tom Cruise In The UK premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning’ Part One

    Tom Cruise

  • Headshot Of Ving Rhames

    Ving Rhames

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is an action-adventure spy thriller from director Christopher McQuarrie. It’s the seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible series and a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The title will star Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ving Rhames.

Studio(s)

Skydance, TC Productions

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

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Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movies have achieved what used to be a difficult feat in surpassing James Bond as the best, most action-packed spy thriller franchise in film. After the brilliance of Mission: Impossible Fallout, fans had to wait five years to finally see Cruise get back in the saddle for Dead Reckoning, the first in a two-part epic. Following Ethan and the IMF against a rogue AI program, the movie established itself in my eyes as one of the best spy thrillers of the last 25 years.

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As is often the case with two-parters, Dead Reckoning didn’t do well at the box office, especially as the Barbenheimer phenomenon captured audience attention in its place. The film’s stumble at the box office jeopardized the franchise’s future, even contributing to delays of part two. For such an ambitious, action-packed movie, I’ll never understand how this excellent project was outperformed by No Time To Die.

1

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Directed By George Miller

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

R

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Action

ScreenRant logo

8/10

33

8/10

Release Date

May 24, 2024

Runtime

148 Minutes

Director

George Miller

Writers

George Miller, Nick Lathouris

Sequel(s)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Cast

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  • Anya Taylor-Joy Profile Picture

    Anya Taylor-Joy

    Furiosa

  • Chris Hemsworth Profile Picture

    Chris Hemsworth

    Dementus

A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the “end of the world,” Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be. 

Main Genre

Adventure

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

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After action fans almost unanimously declared Mad Max: Fury Road one of the best movies in the genre, we were ready for more from George Miller. While it did take nine years to get there, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga delivered an outstanding prequel, one that explored the wasteland and the origin of Furiosa. Although the film should have gone lighter on CGI, it made for a thrilling return to George Miller’s universe, and was arguably the best action film of 2024.

Unfortunately, the brilliant world-building and gripping action weren’t enough to compensate for the long wait between movies and the absence of Max himself. When factoring in how the movie became yet another focal point of online culture war discourse, I don’t think I’ve been as disappointed by a flop in recent memory. After waiting so long for Miller to get back to the wasteland, we might never get to see the director’s continuation for Max.