Assassin’s Creed director Justin Kurzel has an idea for a prequel. There have so far been five films in the Mad Max franchise: 1979’s Mad Max, 1981’s Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and 2024’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
George Miller has directed all five entries; although, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was also co-directed by George Ogilvie. Speaking to Collider, Kurzel, who recently helmed a new crime thriller called The Order with Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, says he has an idea for a Mad Max prequel he’s been “very tempted” to talk to Miller about. “I’ll tell you what, maybe because it was such a big influence, but I’ve always been curious about what happened before the first Mad Max — what was that world with the Nightrider, pre-Mad Max?
I’ve always been very curious about that and very tempted to talk to George about the possibility of a world that is pre-Mad Max 1 and what that is,” Kurzel said. “That’s been one that I’ve always been really curious about because it was such an influential film in my time… It’s an amazing franchise, but I’ve always been curious about those moments before that first one because it’s set up so richly.
And it’s such a great time in Australia, too, that period.” Miller has also spoken about wanting to make another Mad Max movie that follows Tom Hardy’s character in the events leading up to Mad Max: Fury Road.
There’s been little to no news about this potential project, however, since the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Along with The Order and the 2016 Assassin’s Creed movie, Kurzel is known for directing 2015’s Macbeth, 2019’s True History of the Kelly Gang, and 2021’s Nitram.