Who’s ready to ride into Valhalla again, all shiny and chrome? It’s not much longer until George Miller‘s “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel “Furiosa” hits theaters on May 24. But despite a riveting first trailer for the film dropping late last November, many aspects of the blockbuster remain a mystery. Sure, it’s an origin story for Charlize Theron‘s Imperator Furiosa, now played by Anya Taylor-Joy, but what are its major plot points? When and where will “Furiosa” have its world premiere? And will the iconic Road Warrior Max show up at all in the dusty, dystopian sprawl of the Wasteland?
Miller didn’t provide easy answers in Empire’s new preview of “Furiosa,” but he dropped some deliciously juicy hints of what fans should expect in his next adrenaline-fueled thrill ride. The biggest takeaway? Expect a story with a broader, more epic temporal scale. “[In] “Fury Road,” the story unfolds over three days and two nights. [“Furiosa”] follows the story that runs directly into Fury Road, for 15 years,” Miller said. Three days against 15 years: that’s a big shift in scope. “It’s a different animal,” continued the director, “It’s got many different locations. It’s an odyssey. No question.”
In fact, Miller wrote the “Furiosa” odyssey before “Fury Road” as a way to build toward that movie’s fully fleshed-out story and world. And when original Furiosa Theron read that script before shooting the 2015 film, she pleaded for Miller to make it into a real film. “She said, ‘Please, George, can we make this first?’” Miller laughingly recalled. “It was the first time I realised that there’s something really strong in this story.”
“Furiosa” is Taylor-Joy’s vehicle now, though. “[Theron’s] been so classy and kind in letting me go and do it,” the actress told the outlet, revealing that she and “Fury Road” actress have never even met. “But I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person. I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests.” To Taylor-Joy’s dismay, however, Miller refused to let the actress don the original Furiosa’s iconic shorn, bald-headed haircut. “I was so excited to shave my head,” she said, “Then George saw me in real life, and went, ‘No, we can’t!’”
Despite that change, Miller promises that the Wasteland world he built in “Fury Road” remains the same. “The story is the saga of Furiosa, and how she gets taken from home, and spends the rest of her life trying to get back,” he told Empire. And to return home, Furiosa must face off against warring and power-hungry warlords, like Chris Hemsworth‘s Dementus, Tom Burke‘s Praetorian Jack, and a returning Immortan Joe. But will Max, one of the Wasteland’s few “good guys,” be in the mix? “I won’t give away too much about that,” said Miller. “All I’ll say is, Max is lurking there in the background.”
As for when “Furiosa” has its world premiere? Don’t be surprised if Miller debuts the movie at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, which he did for “Fury Road” and his 2022 film “Three Thousand Years Of Longing.” And Cannes director Thierry Fremaux would love to have Miller back. Said Fremaux, “It would be wonderful to welcome them again with “Furiosa,” especially since George Miller was a marvelous jury president in 2016. I know he’s working on the film and I hope it will be at Cannes.”
We’ll find out if “Furiosa” bows on the Croisette when the festival announces its selections on April 11. In the mean time, refresh yourself with the trailer for “Furiosa” below.
