However, some are expecting — gulp — a coin toss between Sony/Atlas Entertainment’s
Garfield and Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s
Max Max: Fury Road prequel
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in the $30M+ 4-day range over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27. The popular branding of
Garfield shouldn’t be underestimated, but the 2004 movie was an also-ran at the box office with a $21.7M opening and $75.3M domestic final. Both hit three-week tracking last week, and in Warner Bros.’ defense, its campaign doesn’t fire up until
Furiosa‘s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15. Also,
Furiosa will have Imax working in its favor. While Anya Taylor-Joy won awards and rave reviews for her turn in Netflix’s
The Queen’s Gambit during Covid,
Furiosa arguably is the first tentpole she’s carrying largely on her shoulders.
Mad Max: Fury Road also blasted off at Cannes in 2015 and went on to win six Oscars, debuting to $45.4M stateside and doing a 3.3x multiple with a finale of $154.2M. The hope is that
Furiosa can emulate that.