After years of talk, George Miller has finally been given the green light on his Furiosa origin story film. Warner Bros has signed off on the Mad Max spin-off and the film is already in advanced development. As rumored, it’ll star Anya Taylor-Joy in the titular role, replacing Charlize Theron (who I still think may pop up in some cameo capacity). Deadline is reporting that both Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will co-star in the feature, which will show us just how Furiosa got her start and became the badass warrior woman she was in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Miller will direct, co-write and produce the film, which doesn’t yet have a production start date.
People have been wanting another Mad Max sequel since…well, since the credits rolled on Fury Road. For his part, Miller has always kept the dream alive, saying how much he wanted to dive back into the universe when the time was right. Talks of a Furiosa standalone film have been present since Fury Road’s debut and, over time, those talks started to revolve around a prequel that tracked her beginning. Taylor-Joy’s name has been attached for a few months now. She’s been on a roll with her turns in The Witch, Glass, Split and, um, The New Mutants.
Hemsworth and Abdul-Mateen II’s additions to the cast are happy surprises but ultimately not that shocking. Miller will have his choice of fine, high quality performers. After Fury Road, everyone wanted to be involved with George Miller. Not only was that movie a tremendous hit with fans and critics, it was also an awards magnet and one of the stars of that year’s Oscars. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that?