Warner Brothers wants 'Mad Max: Fury Road' sequel

Tom Hardy may play Mad Max in a Fury Road sequel (credit: Warner Brothers)

War Boys, gear up – Warner Brothers is revving its engines for a sequel to its hugely popular (and Best Picture nominated) Mad Max: Fury Road. That is, if George Miller’s interested.

Mad Max is one of many franchises Warner Brothers would like to extend, according to chief executive of film Kevin Tsujihara, speaking to The LA Times.

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“We have incredible franchises on the features side such as The Matrix. We’d love to work with George Miller on furthering the Mad Max franchise. We feel there’s a big opportunity on the Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera side as well. We need to invest and build those franchises up. We think that, despite their age, they still maintain a special place in kids’ hearts.”

“I’m really excited about Space Jam 2. We signed Bugs Bunny, and that was a tough negotiation [laughs]. We have a Tom and Jerry movie. We have a lot of stuff in development around those beloved characters on the movie side that we want to augment on the TV animation side.”

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Let’s hope that Space Jam 2 performs a bit better than The Lego Movie 2, which disappointed at the box office.

“It didn’t do as well as tracking would’ve suggested, which was a little puzzling,” Tsujihara says. “The first movie was so fresh and so different. We need to continually rethink the experience, but the Lego brand is incredibly strong.”

There’s lots to unpack in Warner Brothers’ plans for the future of the company, whether it’s the fresh approach to its DC properties, or its plan to turn The Matrix from a trilogy to an ongoing series. Both are big risks, and it sounds like Tsujihara is expecting the animation wing to carry some of the weight.

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One thing’s for sure, Tsujihara is aware the market is changing.

“The thing you have to worry about is, are you evolving fast enough to anticipate the changes that are happening in the marketplace? Are you giving people what they want? Because if we don’t do that, we won’t maintain our relevance.”

“The question being asked on the theatrical side is … are those [movie release] windows still relevant to the consumer? Do they make sense to my 19-and-17-year-olds at home, especially when they see movies like “Roma” that are available on Netflix? We need to figure out how we can address some of those things and also maintain what is so special about going to a movie theater.”