Mad Max: Aussie taxpayers forked out a staggering $183million for Chris Hemsworth Hollywood flop Furiosa – as prequel struggles to break even at box office
It has been revealed that Australian taxpayers spent an estimated $183 million to ensure that Hollywood film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Down Under was made into a film – only for the expensive film to bomb at the box office.
Furiosa stars Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy and was filmed in regional New South Wales and was expected to be the biggest film ever made in Australia.
Although the exact amount spent to ensure the production was filmed in Australia has not been disclosed by Screen New South Wales and Screen Australia, news.com.au have reported that the amount is almost $200 million.
‘It’s incredibly expensive. What value the Australian public got for that cost is questionable,” Professor Kevin Sanson, Head of the School of Communication at QUT, told me.
Furiosa’s total budget was $333 million, and it has been revealed that more than half of that amount was funded by Australian taxpayers.
Australian taxpayers have spent an estimated $183 million to ensure Hollywood film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Down Under was made into a film – amid reports it has bombed at the box office. Pictured: lead actor Chris Hemsworth
“Taxpayers should absolutely question the money being spent, not only on this particular production, but also the value returned through generous offsets,” Sanson added.
Sanson’s colleague Professor Amanda Lotz added that the Australian parliament should ask whether this investment was “a good use of taxpayers’ money”.
She added that the government is offering attractive tax credits for international productions to film here, and in return it hopes to both support Australia’s film industry and stimulate the economy.
Furiosa stars Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy (pictured) and was filmed in regional New South Wales and was expected to be the biggest film ever made in Australia. The film ended in September 2022
Unfortunately, Furiosa’s worse-than-expected performance hasn’t helped either, with production failing to break even and only grossing $160 million (AU$240 million) to date.
Australian audiences didn’t turn up to see the apocalyptic thriller, with box office website Number report that it only made $3.3 million in its opening weekend.
The film suffered a similar fate in the US, where it was released last month – tThe four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend is typically one of the biggest box office events of the year, although that wasn’t the case this year.
Although Furiosa topped the box office with an estimated $25.5 million, via DeadlineiIt was the lowest Memorial Day weekend at the box office in 29 years.
Furiosa’s total budget was $333 million, and it has been revealed that more than half of that amount was funded by Australian taxpayers. Unfortunately, the film failed to break even at the box office
Furiosa was shown in 3,804 theaters over the holiday weekend and earned an average of $6,703 (AU$10,000) per screen.
The soft debut means there’s a long way to go for the film, which has a lofty production budget of $168 million, not including publicity and advertising.
Many box office analysts had predicted a debut for Furiosa to be in the $40 million to $50 million range, but like rival film The Fall Guy, it fell well short of expectations.