After losing the Best Director Golden Globe to The Revenant’s Alejandro González Iñárritu, Miller sounded fed up. He told Page Six’s Cindy Adams, “I won’t make more Mad Max movies.” The reason why? Perfection takes time. “I’ve shot in Australia in a field of wild flowers and flat red earth when it rained heavily forever,” he said. “We had to wait 18 months and every return to the U.S. was 27 hours. Those Mad Max-es take forever. I won’t do those anymore.” (Coincidentally, “I’ve shot in Australia / in a field of wild flowers and flat red earth / when it rained heavily forever” is my favorite Nick Cave lyric.)
Maybe Miller was just feeling salty after losing, but today, after being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, he clarified what he meant. Miller told The Hollywood Reporter that his interview with Page Six got a “bit jumbled” (even if the piece’s headline—“George Miller will never make another Mad Max movie”—was quite clear). He said, “I was saying I didn’t want to do Mad Max right away. ... I have a few other stories to tell. I wanted to do something small and fast.” So, George Miller will make another Mad Max film—just don’t expect it to be another Fury Road.