Anya Taylor-Joy is officially going from New Mutants to Furiosa. She’s just been cast as the lead character in the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, co-written and directed by George Miller. She’ll be joined by Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in unknown roles.
According to reports, Warner Bros. has yet to officially greenlight the film—but it’s in “advanced development” and after this news is a priority for the studio.
While we don’t know who Hemsworth or Abdul-Mateen II will be playing, we know a fair amount about Furiosa itself, as Miller has been talking about the film for years. During the long development and production of Fury Road, Miller helped write an origin story for the Charlie Theron character, purely so that the actress would have something to drawn on. Of course, the character immediately became an icon and eventually, Miller decided he’d make a film that explained Furiosa’s story before hitting the road with Max.
Miller had hoped Theron could reprise the role, but he never quite was sold on digital de-aging technology. Theron herself has expressed disappointment about the decision to recast but, ultimately, accepts Miller’s vision.
Taylor-Joy, who first wowed audiences in The Witch, was among several actress who had been virtually auditioning for the role over the last several months. She’s a powerful, commanding performer that should be excellent in what’s sure to be a demanding role.
The question now is, when the hell will we see this movie? Miller is working on another film first, one that was supposed to be shooting already but had to be pushed due to the pandemic. It stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. When that’s over, though, hopefully it’ll be Furiosa time.
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