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Mad Max Movie Filmed with Shoestring $500k Budget

“original Mad Max movie, filmed with a shoestring 500k and ended up being a total hit.”
True
Confidence: High Checked on July 1, 2026

Summary

The 1979 original *Mad Max* was produced on a budget of roughly $350‑400 k (well under $500 k). It subsequently grossed more than $100 million worldwide, making it a major box‑office hit and one of the most profitable films of its time.

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Sources 60 searched

nfsa.gov.au
  • Mad Max: The original movie | NFSA

    Made for a paltry AUD$380,000 by George Miller in 1979, the independently-funded film for a time held the Guinness World Record for the highest box-office-to-budget ratio of any motion picture.

  • George Miller: Making Mad Max on a budget | NFSA

    The entire budget (for Mad Max, 1979) was $350,000 and so that means you’re doing everything incredibly cheaply. It meant that Byron Kennedy and I would gestetner the script and then we’d get on the back of my motorbike and we’d ride and ...

en.wikipedia.org
  • Mad Max (film) - Wikipedia

    Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller in his directorial debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with James McCausland, based on a story by Miller and Byron Kennedy. Mel Gibson stars as "Mad" Max Rockatansky, a police officer turned vigilante in a dystopian ...

equip.org
screenrant.com
the-numbers.com
thoolie.com
mentalfloss.com
  • 11 Fascinating Facts About <em>Mad Max</em>

    Mel Gibson in Mad Max (1979). | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Since the film only had a budget of $350,000, Miller scraped together extra money as an emergency room doctor to keep the movie going.

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