Mad Max (1979) director George Miller is all set to start shooting Furiosa, the film will be a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) which grossed 374 million dollars in Box Office collections and was nominated for 10 Oscars out of which it won 6 of them. Mad Max: Fury Road set a benchmark for action films, and Furiosa instantly became an icon.
The director wishes to make a prequel despite the magnanimous success of Fury Road, the prequel will feature a young Furiosa in action and will track her life before the events of Fury Road. Charlize Theron was celebrated for her performance as Furiosa, winning numerous accolades. Unfortunately, she will not reprise her role as Furiosa in the prequel directed by Miller.
George Miller is repulsed by De-aging CGI in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman
George Miller confirmed the production of the prequel, in an interview with New York Times, the story of Furiosa was already developed before Mad Max: Fury Road was released. Miller clarified that the backstory of the character was essential to explain the cast and crew, it was a guidebook for Furiosa’s character.
“It was purely a way of helping Charlize and explaining it to ourselves,” says Miller in the interview.
Miller had no actual plans of replacing the Oscar-winning actress, he thought that CG de-aging technology would make her look young for the part. Unfortunately to our disappointment, the technology is not developed enough. He believes that it will take time and so a young actress had to be cast for the role.
“For the longest time, I thought we could just use 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. Everyone is on the verge of solving it, particular Japanese video-game designers, but there’s still a pretty wide valley, I believe.”
Anya Taylor-Joy is cast as the young Furiosa, the young actress who won the hearts of everyone with her performance in Queen’s Gambit. She is a strong performer who can fill the big shoes of Charlize Theron.
Taylor-Joy told Indiewire that filming the prequel was the “dirtiest and the bloodiest”, coming from an actress who has been a part of The Menu, and The Northman it does spark some curiosity and excitement as to how big and violent will Furiosa be.
Fans are shocked and heartbroken over the fact that Theron will not reprise her role as Furiosa, yet everyone is excited to see the crazy vehicles and get to know Furiosa more closely. Miller promised that the prequel will be more violent than any other Mad Max film.
Charlize Theron never respected George Miller’s vision for Mad Max
In a report with The Hollywood Reporter, Theron addressed the trauma attached to the shoot of Mad Max: Fury Road and hopes that no actor or actress ever has to go through such a tough production. The actress also owned up to her faults and revealed that she initially could not understand what her director was trying to do, but once she saw the film Theron was in awe of Miller’s genius and wished she had another opportunity to do better.
“never really appreciated or respected George Miller’s vision, [I went], ‘Oh my God, this is what was in his head the whole time and I couldn’t hear it, and so it’s the one movie where I go, ‘If I had another opportunity, I’d get a little bit more of what he tried to do in the first one.’”
When asked if the actress holds any grudge against the director for replacing her, Theron candidly said that she could not be happier and that Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the most talented actress in the industry right now. “Listen, I’m not mad about it. One of the greatest fuc***g actresses is picking up something that I only imagined.”
She also confirmed that Taylor Joy did not reach out to her during the shoot, nevertheless, Charlize Theron wishes the cast and crew the best and is excited about the film.
Furiosa is set to release on 24 February 2024.
Source: NewYorkTimes
