One of the most universally well-liked movies of the last decade was Mad Max: Fury Road, the long-delayed “reimagining” of the Mad Max movies from between 1979 and 1985. The film came from the same director, George Miller, as the original movies, and while it brought back the Max character, it replaced Mel Gibson with Tom Hardy. But it switched the focus of the film to Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron.)
Mad Max: Fury Road, which was essentially one long chase scene, drew nearly universally positive reviews, was a mid-sized box office hit, and was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 6, including a sweep of the technical awards. It was a perfect match of the source material with modern-day filmmaking techniques, including an emphasis on practical effects. And it was all presided over by George Miller, a veteran filmmaker who was 70 years old when Fury Road was released.
As the years passed, and despite plenty of talk, there was never a sequel or prequel made for the movie. Miller, in the meantime, set a film called Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, as his next project, the first he has directed since Fury Road.
But now, after much delay, a spinoff of Fury Road is a go- and it will explore the backstory of the Furiosa character.
Anya Taylor-Joy, per the Hollywood trades, will play a younger version of Furiosa, while the film will co-star Chris Hemsworth and Watchmen actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. There has been speculation that Hemsworth would be playing Mad Max, although that has not been confirmed.
The movie had been in the works going back to around the time Fury Road came out, and Miller had at one point considered using de-aging technology, a la The Irishman, with Theron reprising the role. But he ultimately went with a younger actress.
George Miller, who is now 75, will be writing and directing, with several of the behind-the-scenes people who won Oscars for Fury Road, including editor Margaret Sixel (who is Miller’s wife), sound mixer Ben Osmo, and makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt.
A release date for the film has not yet been announced, but Furiosa will likely be among the first set of blockbuster movies to arrive after all of the ones that have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There’s also no word as to whether we’ll be seeing the Doof Warrior again:
Perhaps he can have his own spinoff movie as well.
