When Fury Road came out, movies weren't going to digital 3 weeks after release and they still had physical media as a viable form of post-release revenue. Now, physical media is a mere shadow of its former self, and audiences are far more prone to stay home to see a movie they know will stream less than a month away.

These days, unless you have a special deal due to some massive star or big name director throwing a fit about keeping it exclusively in theaters as long as possible, your movie realistically has 3-4 weeks to make back its budget. Occasional movies leg out, yes, but I think the new normal will be "make money immediately or panic" unless they extend the amount of time a movie is exclusively in theaters.

I certainly hope Furiosa becomes a leggy hit.... but Fury Road had a lot going for it that Furiosa really doesn't due to the current state of the industry.

More Christmas movies coming in 2025...