Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road

In 2020, New York Times reporter Buchanan wrote an oral history of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) to coincide with the film's fifth anniversary. That viral article was the basis for this full-length treatment of how a film that almost didn’t get made (one movie studio even walked away) turned into an unexpected success, winning six Oscars and becoming a feminist classic. Buchanan interviewed more than 130 members of the cast and crew in order to present this oral history of the decade-long process of developing the film, the fourth in a franchise. Director George Miller shares his vision for focusing the film on one long car race and discusses the decision to center Furiosa (Charlize Theron) alongside Max (Tom Hardy). Fans of Mad Max's car chases will enjoy behind-the-scenes insight on filming the stunts in the Namibian desert. Buchanan’s interviews hear the crew expressing frustrations about the lengthy casting process and the film’s tendency to run over budget and behind schedule. Throughout the book, Miller's vision is brought to life.