Chris Hemsworth's $168m Mad Max film Furiosa flops in Australia making only $3m opening weekend
Chris Hemsworth's highly publicised Mad Max Saga film Furiosa is fighting to break even on its USD $168million (AUD $251million) budget.
Australian audiences have failed to show up to see the apocalyptic thriller, with box office website Numero reporting that it earned just AUD $3million on its opening weekend.
Released in Australia on May 23, the film is seeing such low attendance that one cinema has reported selling just 220 tickets since its release.
Manager of Emerald Cinema Complex in Queensland, Stephen Goddard, says there has been a lack of interest, but those who do show up enjoy the flick.
'Every exit comment I'm getting is, "gee that was good." They are sort of coming out and surprised it was good' Goddard tells news.com.au.
Chris Hemsworth 's highly publicised Mad Max Saga film Furiosa is fighting to break even on its USD $168million (AUD $251million) budget. Chris is pictured
Australian audiences have failed to show up to see the apocalyptic thriller, with box office website Numero reporting that it earned just AUD $3million on opening weekend
The film has suffered a similar fate in the USA where it was released last week.
The four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend is typically one of the biggest box office events of the year, though that is not the case this year.
Furiosa topped the box office with an estimated USD $25.5 million, via Deadline, with The Garfield Movie just behind at USD $24.8 million.
It's set to be the lowest Memorial Day weekend at the box office in 29 years, since Casper topped the box office in late May 1995 with USD $22 million, not counting the 2020 box office when theaters were closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Released in Australia on May 23, the film is seeing such low attendance that one cinema has reported selling just 220 tickets since its release
The film has suffered a similar fate in the USA where it was released last week
Furiosa screened in 3,804 theaters over the holiday weekend, earning a solid USD $6,703 per-screen average.
The soft debut means there is a long road ahead for the film, which has a lofty production budget of USD $168 million, not counting publicity and advertising.
The film - a prequel to 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road - didn't fare much better in foreign markets, with a USD $33.3 million opening from 76 foreign markets, for a worldwide debut of USD $58.8 million.
Many box office analysts had projected a debut for Furiosa in the USD $40 million to USD $50 million range, but, much like The Fall Guy, it fell well under expectations.
The soft debut means there is a long road ahead for the film, which has a lofty production budget of USD $168 million, not counting publicity and advertising
Much like The Fall Guy (81% on Rotten Tomatoes), the critics embraced Furiosa as well, earning an 89% rating on RT.
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Still, the strong critical reception and word-of-mouth from its various premieres still couldn't pave the way for Furiosa to succeed at the box office.
Furiosa is a prequel to the 2015 blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road, with Anya Taylor-Joy playing a younger version of the title character first played by Charlize Theron.
The film is set over a 16-year period in Furiosa's life, set years after a global catastrophe that has turned Australia into a radioactive wasteland.
The film follows Furiosa from when she was just 10 years old (Alyla Brown) and was abducted by Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), leader of the Biker Horde.
Furiosa also stars Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack, Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe and Angus Sampson as the Organic Mechanic.