Following his celebrated turns in “Watchmen,” “Candyman,” and “The Trial of the Chicago, “Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is arguably one of the most in-demand actors of the moment. Next month, he turns up “The Matrix Resurrections” as the new Morpheus; after that, it’s starring next to Jake Gyllenhaal in Michael Bay’s “Ambulance,” and he’s currently shooting “Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom.” But one highly anticipated film he won’t be appearing in now is the new “Mad Max: Furiosa” film.
Deadline reports that due to scheduling issues, actor Tom Burke (“Mank”) has had to take over Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s role in the anticipated prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road,” directed again by George Miller. Burke is the spitting image of the late Hugh Keays-Byrne, who portrayed franchise baddies Toecutter in the original pic and Immortan Joe in the most recent installment.
READ MORE: Tom Hardy Is Cool With George Miller Pivoting From ‘Mad Max’ To ‘Furiosa’
The issue is a rival “secret passion project [Abdul-Mateen II] had been developing for some time,” that he clearly doesn’t want to miss out on (it also suggests his role in ‘Furiosa’ was a more minor supporting role). Filming on “Furiosa” isn’t expected to begin production in Syndey, New South Wales, Australia, until spring/summer of 2022 due to COVID issues. That delay has allowed star Chris Hemsworth to shoot his “Extraction” sequel in Prague before cameras begin to roll on the “Fury Road” prequel (in fact, “Extraction 2” is shooting now).
“Furisoa” will be the first film in the franchise to pivot away from Max Rockatansky, respectively played by Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy, focusing instead on a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character played by Anya Taylor-Joy. While he wanted Theron in the lead, Miller felt the de-aging technology wasn’t at a place that could allow Theron to convincingly play a younger version of herself, especially given how difficult these films are to make.
There is an expectation that Theron and Hardy could potentially return for a direct sequel to “Fury Road,” but the two famously fought like cats and dogs on the film, which was one of the reasons Miller pivoted to a prequel instead. That animosity’s probably behind them now, but Theron has claimed several times that Hardy made the already tricky shoot a miserable experience.
Miller had been shooting his fantasy romance film “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. Elba famously contracted COVID-19 at the start of production in Australia.
Warner Bros. had recently given the delayed action flick a new release date of May 24, 2024.