The frustrating issue with a licensing system is that every month, without fail, Netflix loses a large number of movies and shows as deals expire while they bring in a new crop that may be better or worse on any given day. This month? They’ve lost some great ones, and they’re about to lose some more.
Just over a week from now, Netflix is going to lose what I would consider 2024’s best sci-fi movie, or at least the best one that was unfortunately very overlooked by audiences. That would be Furiosa, the George Miller prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, that was released last year. It will be booted off Netflix on July 15, unfortunately.
You can make the argument that Dune: Part Two may be the better sci-fi movie of that year (and Netflix just lost that on July 1), but it was far, far less ignored than Furiosa. Dune: Part Two made $714 million at the global box office and greenlit a third film from director Denis Villeneuve, who will move on to James Bond for Amazon after.
Furiosa? It’s a tragedy. The fantastic film only made $174 million worldwide, which matched its $168 million budget almost exactly. So they made $6 million, right? No, because that’s just the budget of the film and doesn’t include marketing and distribution. Famed director George Miller wants to say in the universe, but that very much was considered a bomb, and it’s unclear whether he’d be able to spool up another entry in the franchise. The idea was that it would hopefully earn closer to what Mad Max: Fury Road made, $380 million globally, but it wasn’t half that.
I will definitely not say that Furiosa is as good as Fury Road, which I’d consider one of the best action sci-fi movies ever, but it’s still fantastic. Anya Taylor-Joy plays a young version of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa from the first movie, and it features Chris Hemsworth as one of the campiest, most fun villains we’ve seen in cinema in a very long time. Here’s the official synopsis:
“After being snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, while the tyrants Dementus and Immortan Joe fight for power and control, the young Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.”
Even if you haven’t seen Fury Road (which Netflix unfortunately does not have), I very much think you can still watch Furiosa, which stands on its own two legs (and one arm). Check it out before it’s banished from Netflix for the foreseeable future.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy
