Following the release of that epic first trailer, excitement for George Miller's Furiosa has gone through the roof. In the movie, Anya Taylor-Joy will take over the role of the title character from Charlize Theron in a prequel which has finally been given a definitive place in the Mad Max franchise's wider timeline.
Talking at a CCXP23 panel this past weekend, Miller confirmed Furiosa takes place "15 years directly before Mad Max: Fury Road," and appeared to suggest we could see something of Max Rockatansky.
"This story happens 15 years directly before Mad Max: Fury Road, and it runs straight into it," the filmmaker says. "Max is lurking around somewhere in this story, but it's really the story of Furiosa and how she got to be. A lot of the film will be familiar, and a lot of it's new, which we haven't seen before."
If Max does appear, then only time will tell who Miller has enlisted to play him. Who looks like a young Tom Hardy or Mel Gibson?
Chris Hemsworth, who plays Dementus, was also on hand to share new details with fans and explained why this post-apocalyptic epic is much different from the other action movies he's starred in over the years.
"When you do an action film, a lot of the time you're trying different things, you're experimenting, and you're trying to make the sequence as impressive and as big as possible. And you have backups and other options, and that can be exhausting. What was refreshing working with George is that every frame was thought out. Every single frame was necessary; it was servicing the whole. It was part of a grander plan and a message, and so there was no waste."
"Everything you see is essential, and means something, and supports the characters' journey, the narrative, the overall arc of the film, and it was exhausting in the best way. All of us showed up and were willing to commit and throw ourselves on the line to service this journey and this film and this franchise that has existed for forty-something years now."
You can watch the full Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga panel in the player below.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth star in Academy Award-winning mastermind George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the much-anticipated return to the iconic dystopian world he created more than 30 years ago with the seminal Mad Max films. Miller now turns the page again with an all-new original, standalone action adventure that will reveal the origins of the powerhouse character from the multiple Oscar-winning global smash Mad Max: Fury Road.
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Taylor-Joy stars in the title role, and along with Hemsworth, the film also stars Alyla Browne and Tom Burke. Miller penned the script with Mad Max: Fury Road co-writer Nico Lathouris. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is currently set to be released in theaters on May 24, 2024.