THE much-anticipated fifth instalment of the Mad Max franchise’s Australian post-apocalyptic action-adventure opened in cinemas on Thursday.
Mad Max: Furiosa is the latest incarnation and is a prequel to the 2015 Fury Road movie in the series created by Australian director George Miller.
The new film tells the backstory of Furiosa, a young girl snatched by a horde of bikers led by the warlord Dementus.
Played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, Dementus leads his gang through nuclear wastelands, encountering the citadel, an oasis presided over by the tyrant Immortan Joe.
Immortan Joe wants to take the young Furiosa as his own to become a breeder.
The two warlords wage war for dominance.
Meanwhile, a young Furiosa must survive as she puts together a plan to find her way home.
As with all previous instalments of the franchise, which helped launch the career of Mel Gibson in 1979, this chapter was also filmed in the Australian outback, outside Broken Hill.
Manager Liam Lochery said there had been plenty of talk about the new offering.
“People love to watch locally-made films, as local as a big production can get,” he said.
“We are hoping it will jump in popularity. It’s quiet for a Thursday, but the weekend we are anticipating a pretty big jump.”
The cinema still three other films on the big screen – IF, Golda and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Upcoming films include Fall Guy and The Garfield Movie.
