By Tomorrow, May 15th 2020, marks the fifth anniversary of Mad Max: Fury Road‘s descent on American theaters. The fourth film in the Mad Max series by Australian filmmaker George Miller released 30 years after the prior Beyond Thunderdome, and immediately took the world by storm, and has since been a source of discussion among movie fans the world-round.
And now George Miller’s looking ahead. But also, in the rearview.
In an extensive anniversary retrospective of Fury Road, The New York Times spoke with Miller about the past and future of the post-apocalyptic franchise, with the filmmaker confirming that he’s actively casting for the next entry. Set to be a prequel to Fury Road, the next film will focus on Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa–likely before she picks up that moniker. Only Miller says Theron will not be returning for the part.
Talking to the Times, Miller was open to the idea of “CG de-aging on Charlize, but I don’t think we’re nearly there yet. Despite the valiant attempts on ‘The Irishman,’ I think there’s still an uncanny valley.” Seemingly in-keeping with his balance of the material and digital, the moviemaking magic of the Furiosa film will rely on canny casting.
Though little else is known about the story, the leap back in the Mad Max timeline seemingly wouldn’t imply a rolling back of the madness. Fury Road production designer Colin Gibson is set to return, and mentioned the 135 vehicles manufactured for the fourth film’s shoot, 85 ofwhich were seen in the finished product. “The next possible iteration, which is on the table, has even more.” Cinematographer John Seale is also looking to return for the Furiosa prequel.
Of course, the best-laid plans have a tendency of going awry when it comes to Hollywood. But if Miller and his crew pulled all that off with Fury Road, who’s to say they can’t outdo themselves?
The Furiosa film is certainly no cash-in either, with a screenplay written even before Fury Road began its shoot. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who played one of the warlord Immortan Joe’s captive wives in Fury Road mentioned she read the Furiosa script as production on Road began. “It’s genius. I’ve always wondered if that movie’s going to get made.”
If Miller has his way, it sounds like it might just. Though the coronavirus has delayed his production of Three Thousand Years of Longing, an epic love story starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, Miller hopes to ride out to the wastes once again after that. With the legal nightmare that held up the franchise settled over at Warner Bros, it looks like it’s only a matter of time until the engine revs once again.
Furiosa’s Back: George Miller Discusses the Next ‘Mad Max’ Movie [The New York Times]