George Miller’s Next Mad Max Movie Is Written—But There’s a Catch

George Miller, the visionary filmmaker behind the Mad Max franchise, has revealed that he has a script ready for another installment in the beloved post-apocalyptic series—but the stars will need to align for it to happen. In a recent interview, the 80-year-old director, known for his bold storytelling and high-octane action, opened up about the possibilities of revisiting Mad Max again.

Speaking to Vulture, Miller shared that while he has a completed script for a new Mad Max movie, he has several other projects in the works first. “We’ve got another script,” Miller said. “But having been doing this long enough where I’m habituated to storytelling, I find myself with way too many stories – not only in my head, but in the form of screenplays or at least very detailed notes that are within reach of screenplays.”

Miller, who has been a professional daydreamer for most of his life, jokingly noted how his childhood habit of daydreaming was once seen as a deficit. “This was seen as my big deficit as a kid: ‘George would do better at school if he didn’t daydream so much,’” he recalled. However, his penchant for daydreaming and his prolific storytelling has fueled his remarkable career, which includes his iconic Mad Max series.

While a Mad Max sequel is not at the top of Miller’s list of upcoming projects, he remains open to the idea—if the right circumstances present themselves. “So, there’s lots of stories. Indeed, one of them is a Mad Max,” Miller explained. “It is not something I would do next, because there’s two things I’m keen to do next. But if for whatever reason the planets align, you can never tell.”

His words suggest that the timing for a new Mad Max movie depends on a variety of factors, and Miller is known for his careful, deliberate approach to filmmaking. “Too often, you’re lining up to do a movie and then something happens. Some things fall into place and some don’t, so all I can say is we’ll see,” he added.

Miller’s Mad Max legacy began with the first three films, which starred Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky and were released between 1979 and 1985. However, it was the 2015 reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, that reignited the franchise and earned critical acclaim. In 2024, Miller returned to the Mad Max universe with a prequel focusing on Furiosa, Theron’s character, played by Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy. Despite underperforming at the box office, Furiosa received positive reviews, with critics praising its intensity and visual style.

While fans have eagerly anticipated The Wasteland, a potential sequel to Fury Road, it seems that Hardy won’t be returning for this follow-up. In a 2024 interview with Forbes, Hardy stated, “I don’t think that’s happening.” This statement follows previous comments by Miller, who in 2016 had said he was done with the Mad Max franchise—only to clarify in 2019 that he still had two films in mind set within the same universe.

Miller’s relationship with the Mad Max series has been complex. After the challenges of making the original films in the unforgiving Australian outback, Miller had once declared he would not make more Mad Max movies. However, his creative drive and the continued success of Fury Road and Furiosa seem to have reignited his passion for the series.

“I won’t make more Mad Max movies,” Miller reportedly said in 2016. “I’ve shot in Australia in a field of wildflowers and flat red earth when it rained heavily forever. We had to wait 18 months and every return to the US was 27 hours. Those Mad Maxes take forever. I won’t do those anymore.” Yet, just a few years later, he shared in a 2019 interview with IndieWire that there were still two stories involving Mad Max and Furiosa that he wanted to explore, and it appeared that plans for these projects were moving forward.

As fans await further developments, Miller’s willingness to return to the Mad Max universe remains conditional on timing and opportunity. While the script is ready, it seems that the next Mad Max film will only be made if the stars align in the right way. For now, fans can only wait and hope that the planets will indeed align for another unforgettable ride through the wasteland.