The “Mad Max: Fury Road” spin-off and prequel will tell the origin story of the titular character “Furiosa.”
While Charlize Theron originally played Furiosa in the 2016 “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Anya Taylor-Joy will portray a younger version of the character in the upcoming film.
Chris Hemsworth and Yayha Abdul-Mateen II were also slated to star in the film. However, Mateen recently dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts.
Mateen’s role has instead been given to up-and-coming actor Tom Burke. The details on the role are under wraps, but given the swift change, it seems that the character might not have as significant a role as previously thought.
“Furiosa” is still in pre-production, filming set to take place in Hemsworth’s home country of Australia. This marks the first major studio role for Burke, who played Orson Welles in Netflix’s “Mank.” It’ll be a change from his dramatic roles to jump right into the action of the “Mad Max” universe.
Mateen disclosed his departure was to set aside time for another project, which production moved up on. With “Furiosa” not set for release until 2024, it seems like there’d be plenty of time for a second feature.
It just goes to show how much time and effort goes into making a film, especially one as good as “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
