What Is George Miller’s Net Worth?

George Miller, a celebrated Australian filmmaker, boasts a net worth of $18 million. Hailing from Queensland and born in 1945, Miller initially pursued a career in medicine. During his time in medical school, he collaborated with his brother Chris to create a short film that garnered success in a competition. This achievement led him to join a workshop at Melbourne University, steering his career towards filmmaking. Miller is most renowned for the iconic “Mad Max” series, which includes the films: “Mad Max” (1979), “Mad Max 2” (1981), “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” (1985), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), and the upcoming “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (2024).

Beyond the “Mad Max” universe, Miller has an impressive portfolio of works. His other notable contributions include “The Witches of Eastwick” (1987), “Lorenzo’s Oil” (1992), “Babe” (1995), and “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (2022). Furthermore, he achieved significant success with the animated film “Happy Feet” (2006), which topped the box office. Miller has been nominated for six Academy Awards and clinched the Best Animated Feature Film honor for “Happy Feet” in 2007. His contributions to cinema were recognized in 1996 when he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

Early Life

Born on March 3, 1945, in Chinchilla, Queensland, George Miller is the son of Greek immigrants Angela and Jim Miller. His grandfather, originally named Miliotis, altered the family surname to Miller upon moving to Australia in 1920. George studied at Ipswich Grammar School and Sydney Boys High School before enrolling at the University of New South Wales with his twin brother, John, to study medicine. In his final year, he and his younger brother Chris created a short film that won a student competition. His passion for filmmaking grew, especially after meeting Byron Kennedy during a Melbourne University film workshop in 1971. Together, they established Kennedy Miller Productions in 1972 following Miller’s medical residency. Though Kennedy passed away in 1983, the company was renamed Kennedy Miller Mitchell in 2009 after Doug Mitchell joined.

Career

Miller’s first major success came with the 1979 film “Mad Max,” which he co-wrote with James McCausland. The movie raked in $100 million worldwide. His directorial prowess was further solidified with “Mad Max 2” in 1982, co-written with Terry Hayes and Brian Hannant, winning five Australian Film Institute Awards. In the mid-1980s, Miller directed a segment of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” and co-directed “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” with George Ogilvie, earning multiple Saturn Award nominations. His 1987 film “The Witches of Eastwick” was a financial success and garnered several Academy and Saturn Award nominations. In 1992, “Lorenzo’s Oil,” which he co-wrote and directed, also received two Academy Award nominations.

In 1995, Miller co-wrote and produced “Babe” alongside Chris Noonan, a film that grossed $254.1 million and received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. He directed the documentary “40,000 Years of Dreaming” in 1997 and followed it with “Babe: Pig in the City” in 1998. “Happy Feet,” released in 2006, was a blockbuster hit and earned Miller his first Academy Award. The film’s sequel, “Happy Feet Two,” came out in 2011. In 2015, Miller revisited his celebrated franchise with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a movie that won six Academy Awards and grossed $380.4 million. His more recent work includes “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (2022), which received multiple AACTA nominations, and the anticipated “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (2024), which also received critical acclaim.

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Personal Life

George Miller’s personal life includes his marriage to actress Sandy Gore in 1985, with whom he shares a daughter, though they divorced in 1992. He later married Margaret Sixel, a film editor, in 1995, and the couple has two sons. Sixel has collaborated on several of Miller’s projects. A self-proclaimed feminist, Miller shared with Vanity Fair in 2015, “I’ve gone from being very male dominant to being surrounded by magnificent women. I can’t help but be a feminist.” He is actively involved with several film organizations, including the Brisbane International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival.

Awards and Nominations

Miller has won more than 75 awards for his work. He won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for “Happy Feet” (2007), and he was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for “Lorenzo’s Oil” (1993), Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for “Babe” (1996), and Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Achievement in Directing for “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2016). George won a BAFTA Award for Best Animated Feature Film for “Happy Feet” and earned nominations for Best Film and Best Screenplay – Adapted for “Babe.” He received Writers Guild of America Award nominations for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for “Lorenzo’s Oil” and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for “Babe.” “Mad Max: Fury Road” earned Miller numerous awards and nominations, including a Critics Choice Award for Best Director, a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director – Motion Picture.

George has received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of New South Wales (1999), an honorary Master of Arts degree from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (2007), and an honorary Doctorate from Griffith University (2008). In 2007, the Queensland Expatriate Awards honored him with The Queensland – United States Personal Achievement Award, and in 2009, he received the French Order of the Arts and Letters. In 2018, Miller was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.