George Miller has been working on his next film for over 20 years, ever since he first optioned A.S. Byatt’s short story, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye. Now, the project has finally come to fruition.
Three Thousand Years of Longing, which stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and we have a first look at some stunning footage ahead of the movie's full trailer this Friday.
Miller describes Three Thousand Years of Longing as the “opposite” of his acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road, and it's not difficult to understand why. The story follows a scholar (Swinton) on a trip to a speaking engagement in Istanbul who inadvertently summons a Djinn (Elba). The genie-like entity then details his long journey through fantasy and history as he endeavors to tempt this scholar — who claims she wants for nothing — to make her three wishes.
This teaser only features a few brief shots, but it should be more than enough to get fans of the legendary filmmaker rubbing their lamps in anticipation. Check it out below.
"When I say it’s the anti-Mad Max, I mean it only in the sense that it’s got way more dialogue than the very laconic Fury Road," said Miller during a recent interview with Deadline. "Most of that was shot on location in the deserts of Southern Africa. This one was shot basically indoors, with only a couple of outdoor scenes. Its scale is smaller, at least in terms of its physical scale, even though, yes, it is set over 3,000 years. But also, Fury Road was a story that essentially happened over three days and two nights, and this happened over 3,000 years, so that’s what I meant by the anti-Mad Max."