Is the future of ‘Mad Max‘ in jeopardy?
Unfortunately, it appears that the ‘Mad Max’ franchise, which burst back on the scene after decades with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” might be at an impasse. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, filmmaker George Miller’s production company, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, has taken Warner Bros. to court claiming that the studio acted in a “high-handed, insulting or reprehensible” manner.
The outlet reports that Miller has finished not one, but two, scripts for future ‘Mad Max’ sequels. But if Warner Bros. and Miller’s production company aren’t able to work out their differences, there’s no guarantee these will ever get made.
It seems as if Kennedy Miller Mitchell claims that WB owes a substantial amount of money to the production company, stemming from a contractual agreement from before production began on the last ‘Mad Max’ entry. According to the documents, the production company claims that they are owed $7 million for coming in under budget during the production, while WB claims they actually went over budget.
Due to this disagreement, there are a number of other discrepancies that are coming to light that help illuminate what was clearly a troubled production.
Of course, we have heard before that shooting ‘Fury Road’ wasn’t easy. The working conditions and the number of stunts all contributed to what was, by most accounts, a tough shoot. But we had no idea about the claims that are in this document.
Kennedy Miller Mitchell claims that WB forbid certain scenes in the script to be shot, which included more with Immortan Joe’s Citadel. They also apparently forced Miller to shoot an entirely new ending. Also, the production company claims that after a “rough cut” was shown to WB, the studio forced production to go longer with reshoots that resulted in “substantial changes and delays.” Then the studio insisted that there be 10 screenings of ‘Fury Road,’ which each resulted in more changes.
However, it seems like the big issues came with reshoots that cost $31 million. According to Miller’s production company, these costs were not supposed to be included in the cost of the film, which would have meant that they went under budget. Instead, WB counts those costs as part of the production and resulted in Miller and Co. not reaching their goal.
As you might expect, Warner Bros. is claiming none of that is true. The studio says that the new scenes and suggested changes came after it was clear that film was going to come in over budget and late. These new scenes would be the only way that the film would be finished in time. The studio also claims that the “new ending” was just a suggestion and not a mandate.
There also seems to be an issue about funding. Kennedy Miller Mitchell claims that WB sought new funding from RatPac-Dune Entertainment without consulting the production company first, which would have allowed them the opportunity to contribute if needed. Warner Bros. claims that the production company ultimately did contribute.
As is clear from the dispute, its impossible to know which side is correct. One thing is clear, however – the production of ‘Fury Road’ was a lot more difficult than originally thought. It seems as if the quality of the film was far from a guarantee, and fans should be thankful the film even was produced, let alone at that high of quality.
Let’s just hope the two sides work this out and we get to see the further adventures of Max and Furiosa.