The Mad Max franchise began in 1979 with Mel Gibson in his breakout role. The Braveheart actor went on to star in Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1981 and 1985 respectively, and the original trilogy was well-received. It took thirty years for George Miller to decide to reboot the franchise with Mad Max: Fury Road, which was a critical success. As a result of the 2015 film’s popularity, there appear to be numerous prequels and sequels in the pipeline. One of these is Mad Max: The Wasteland, which is expected to hit screens in 2023. This may be accompanied by a new casino game to add to the popular slot that already exists.
Mad Max: Fury Road Was a Critical Success
Caption: Mad Max: Fury Road trailer.
Mad Max: Fury Road was a brand-new reboot of the 1980s films, this time with Tom Hardy in the title role as Max Rockatansky. The picture takes viewers back to the grim post-apocalyptic desert landscape first shown in the original, this time with a new premise. In the Kennedy Miller Mitchell production, Max teams up with Charlize Theron’s Furiosa while fleeing the cult leader, Immortan Joe. Theron’s heroine was so popular that Miller has now decided to create a prequel story about the character’s origins.
Fury Road was the most successful offering in the Mad Max franchise in terms of revenue, raking in $375 million worldwide. Despite outperforming its three predecessors, however, it was considered to be a box office failure due to its high production costs. The film ended up losing somewhere between $30 and $40 million but, due to its strong critical reception, there is much potential for future films to outdo this performance. One of the reasons for the failure may have been due to the release of the Mad Max slot game coming later. Had the online casino market been tapped in advance, the film may have attracted a vast number of extra viewers.
Mad Max: Fury Road received a vast number of plaudits from critics. It has an incredibly impressive approval score of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and an average rating of 8.6/10. Expert critics were in general consensus about the film’s artistic direction and vision, and also praised the high-octane action sequences. Writing for Forbes magazine, Scott Mendelson said it was a glorious motion picture and awarded it 10 out of 10.
When writing Fury Road, Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris said that they had created way too much material for just one film. Indeed, they had ideas for at least two more, with a full backstory for Furiosa planned. The film about Theron’s character is set to be a prequel without the superstar in it, with Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit lead Anya Taylor-Joy set to take on the role. This means that the franchise will be able to head off in two directions simultaneously. One picture will focus on the early life of the female warrior from the 2015 film, while another will be a continuation of the Fury Road timeline.
Turning Into a Massive Franchise Thanks to Casino
One thing that will work in any future films’ favour is the fact that the Mad Max franchise has actually grown in stature significantly since the release of the 2015 film. It could, perhaps, be argued that the marketing of the reboot was slightly off, and the producers didn’t quite do enough to ensure a great amount of people heard of it through various channels. There is no danger of that happening this time around, as the Mad Max brand is now prevalent across other forms of media. This will serve to drum up awareness for future instalments of the film series.
The main way that Mad Max has permeated the entertainment industry has been through its related casino games. 888 online casino Canada, for instance, has two separate Mad Max offerings. These are a slot game and a scratch card. The unique Mad Max artwork helps these games stand out, and the variety on offer means that they can attract a higher number of players. This is apparently very effective, as the current jackpot for the slot game stands at over $1m. Meanwhile, others will decide to scratch in search of wins in the iconic, post-apocalyptic wasteland. Casino has proven to be an excellent way to boost films over the years, and it seems certain that there will be new slots to promote future movies.
Caption: Trailer for the Mad Max video game.
There is also a Mad Max console game from Avalanche Studios. The game was popular and appealed to a large number of players. The problem was that it was released months after the film and didn’t act as a way to promote the silver screen offering. It had originally been planned for a 2014 release, which could have helped boost Fury Road’s performance at the box office.
Warner Bros. Pictures may learn from its mistakes when it comes to the release of Mad Max: The Wasteland. It would be wise to commission other games in these various genres months before The Wasteland is scheduled to hit screens. This will help capture the attention of people who may not follow the film industry as closely as others.
What Can Viewers Expect From The Wasteland?
The post-apocalyptic world created by Miller has endless possibilities, and the title character is one that viewers will keep coming back to see. Hardy is hugely popular and is always able to pull in big crowds. The Dark Knight Rises star already confirmed that he was contracted to three more films, suggesting that there is a lot of scope for future offerings.
According to reports, filming for The Wasteland has already been completed, and there is a tentative release date for some time in 2023. This is also the planned schedule for Furiosa, meaning that the two could drop around the same time. This would help the films to cross-promote and could be a massive boost to the success of both of them.
There are few details about the plot of The Wasteland at the moment, with Miller previously having said that it would be on a much smaller scale than its predecessor. The director also hinted that it may not involve Theron, despite the popularity of her character. Hardy’s statements, though, suggest he will be there. Let’s face it, it would be hard to release a Mad Max sequel without the title character in it.
Mad Max: The Wasteland has had little fanfare up to this point. But now that filming has wrapped, Warner Bros will soon step up its promotion drive. This could come in the form of more casino games, which will help to boost the franchise and build a bigger audience for future instalments. The casino industry is likely to play a major part in helping the new offering to become a box office sensation.