Events from the Mad Max 2015 video game are now considered canon according to notes spotted in a Furiosa film script. Television writer/Film Critic Drew McWeeny (Fear Itself, Masters of Horror, Voir) said that he was able to obtain a script for the next movie in the Mad Max franchise and according to it the game made by Avalanche Studios (Just Cause 1-4, Rage 2, The Hunter series, Generation Zero) is now considered canon. This shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise as the game did come out in the same year as Mad Max: Fury Road and does share some similarities.
Craziest thing? The notes in the script that make it clear the MAD MAX video game is canon.
— DrewMcWeeny (@DrewMcWeeny) December 30, 2023
Mad Max 2015 description and trailer (via Warner Bros. Games)
Play as Mad Max, a lone warrior who must embark on a dangerous journey after his Interceptor is stolen by a deadly gang of marauders.
A reluctant hero with an instinct for survival, Max wants nothing more than to leave the madness behind and find solace in the storied “Plains of Silence”
KEY FEATURES
Be Mad Max
* Become the legendary lone warrior as you craft and upgrade his equipment and weapons in order to survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic world
* Fight with savage moves and combos to brutalize the deranged bandits of the Wasteland
Intense Vehicular Combat
* Engage in dynamic, physics-based vehicular combat, taking down enemy vehicles with a slew of deadly weapons and customizable parts
* Choose from different car bodies and construct the ultimate war vehicle with dozens of upgrade combinations
Brave the Wasteland
* Explore an immense post-apocalyptic open world full of unique missions and side quests
* Scavenge every scrap you can find to build upgrades for your equipment and vehicles
* Take down eccentric bandits & gangs that roam the Wasteland
Fury Road and Beyond
The Mad Max 2015 video game received a fair amount of praise from fans and reviewers alike which considering how often movies are poorly translated to video games, and vice versa, was a bit of a shock. As it turns out, despite being around for over 30 years this was only the second game ever to be made for the franchise, although that wasn’t for a lack of trying. Fury Road ended up being the tipping point as its creator George Miller produced so much content for it that he planned not only for the movie to revive the franchise but was also said to be working with Production I.G. (Ghost in The Shell) for a Furiosa CGI anime project, and began collaborating with Cory Barlog (God Of War 2) on the video game.
For better or worse Mother Nature intervened with the floods during the filming of Fury Road and it was said that the studios removed George Miller from the video game project so he could focus exclusively on finishing the film. It was during this time that the game went from Santa Monica Studio to Avalanche Studios. YouTube channel Mad Max Bible has a great breakdown of these events (beginning at 12:14), as well as a history of all the attempts to bring the franchise into the video game realm.