An ultraviolent prequel to a perfect action classic rises from its box office ashes to scare away the competition right when Max needs it the most

Max has had a rough go of things lately. It may be home to the likes of Succession and The Last of Us and Peacemaker, but it’s also shoved Velma and The Idol in our faces, canceled Our Flag Means Death for reasons that are shifty no matter how you swing it, and went from “HBO Max” to “Max: The One to Watch for HBO.” It’s still standing, but boy have there been hurdles.

One of its latest hurdles has been its reputation on the streaming charts, which have recently been dominated by a pair of Sony stinkers in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Tarot. It was a harrowing time; one that may have once indicated that all hope was lost for healthy viewing habits.

But no more, because George Miller and Anya Taylor-Joy have come to save the day. Their weapon of choice? Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which is having a phoenix moment on streaming after flopping at the box office earlier this spring.

Per FlixPatrol, the blood-soaked prequel has shot to the top of the Max film rankings on this day of Aug. 21, leaving every other slot, from second place to 10th, quite firmly in the dust. Tarot and Frozen Empire still sadly shore up bits and pieces of the top five, but victory nevertheless belongs to Imperator Furiosa, the vanguard of creative ambition.

It might be true that, despite all its plus points, Furiosa couldn’t amount to much more than a weaker version of Fury Road which, like its fellow Mad Max films, doesn’t exactly boast a safety net in conventional storytelling. But even if you’re in the camp that believes Furiosa fell flat, there’s no denying the filmmaking competence and wealth of intention that went into George Miller’s latest. You certainly can’t say that about Sony’s recent forays into horror and franchise fare.