Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth starrer Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga opened last week to great reviews. The film had decent anticipation among audiences, following the massive cult following of 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was a big awards contender. However, the film has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The film is not performing well at the box office despite the impeccable filmmaking and zany qualities that George Miller’s Mad Max films have been known for. Amidst the controversy around the use of AI and the fear of it taking over people’s jobs, the film made creative use of the tool to enhance the film rather than manipulate audiences into believing something it’s not.
Furiosa Music Composer Incorporated AI To Create Innovative Voices and Sounds
The Mad Max Saga returns almost after a decade after Mad Max: Fury Road with Furiosa. Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the reigns from Charlize Theron as the titular character and leads the film with great confidence. Despite the positive reviews, the film has not performed well and many are already calling it another flop in a disastrous series of films that started the summer movie season.
George Miller and his team did an incredible job carrying over the mostly practical action choreography for the film, which has been the trademark of the franchise. The movie also featured a rousing background score that accompanied the wild action sequences in the film.
In addition to Miller using AI to create a seamless transition between Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne (which received some flak), the film’s composer Tom Holkenborg also utilized AI in a very unique and creative way. Holkenborg told Variety about how he used AI to make deep fake voices from another voice. The tool also accidentally gave birth to a great piece of music using drums and guitars. The composer said,
I used AI to make deep fake voices from another voice. I’d actually used it, not for voices, but what if the source sound was a drum rhythm, and what if the destination sound was an electric guitar? But the software doesn’t know what to make of it. So it gave us a happy accident that we used throughout the score.
Fans were appreciative of this creative use of AI to enhance the quality of the film. Instead of generating fake imagery and manipulating audiences with it, the team made great use of it in the filmmaking process. Here are some of the reactions on X,
Cool
— Pro Wrestling Fan (@intultdome) May 31, 2024
thats actually is surprisingly a pretty artistic and creative use for ai that do not harm artists in any way people are overreacting
— pedro leo (@olderpoe) June 1, 2024
I love that even using a program creatively to end up with something really wild and interesting is looked upon as somehow immoral. pic.twitter.com/qK8ftIWZVI
— DThron (@DThron) May 31, 2024
So he created his own stuff and put it through Ai? I see nothing wrong with that but people are sheep and only see what they are told to
— paul (@Doublelegpb) June 1, 2024
proof that AI is a new tool for artists. not their replacement like photoshop was once thought to be
— zynx (@zzzynxbutbetter) June 1, 2024
The use of AI nowadays has been very controversial and very looked down upon. However, Furiosa‘s case does not violate any artists of their rights or take over the overall vision of the film in anyway. It was used as it was meant to be: a tool to enhance filmmaking and the overall quality of the film.
The Dismal Box Office of Furiosa May Put A Halt on George Miller’s Plans for The Wasteland
In the interviews leading up to Furiosa‘s release, George Miller had teased the next movie in the franchise, The Wasteland, which will be set a year before Fury Road. However, all would depend on the performance of Furiosa at the box office as told by the director in an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast.
Miller stated that he is still figuring out what to do with The Wasteland and he is still waiting to see how Furiosa performs. If everything lines up perfectly, he would go forward with the production of The Wasteland. The director said,
I’m still figuring out what to do with [‘The Wasteland’]. I’m just waiting to see the reception on ‘Furiosa.’ If it all lines up, then we’ll go ahead with it.
Unfortunately, the possibility of the film happening has become slim as Furiosa is performing very badly at the box office. Currently, the film has so far collected $71 million against a $168 million budget(via Box Office Mojo). Furiosa is currently playing in theatres worldwide.
