In a recent press conference in New South Wales, Australia, Mad Max director George Miller officially announced production plans for Warner Bros. Pictures’ upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff titled Furiosa. The prequel is set to start shooting in Australia this coming summer in June. According to state premier Glady Berejiklian, the project will become the “biggest film ever to be made in Australia,” with the prequel to receive financial incentives from federal and state government in order to secure its production in the country. Miller also confirmed that they had already built cars and prepared stunts for the key action sequence that will be filming this year.
“The support of the Federal and New South Wales Governments were pivotal. They made it possible for the film to be greenlit, shot in Australia and for the production to be based in our home state,” Miller said in a statement (via Variety).
Great news the Mad Max prequel – Furiosa starring Chris Hemsworth – is being filmed right here in NSW. The biggest ever film to be made in Australia, supporting more than 850 local jobs and bringing in $350 million to the economy. pic.twitter.com/HzZXcqeAUt
— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) April 19, 2021
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In addition, during the same press conference, Miller also went on to reveal a new story detail about Furiosa, explaining that the project will be uniquely familiar to the fans of the franchise. “Whereas Fury Road essentially happened over three days and two nights, this happens over many years. You try to make films that are ‘uniquely familiar. This will be familiar to those people who know Mad Max, and in particular Fury Road, but also it will be unique.”
Furiosa is being described as a standalone story that will dive into the origins of the character previously portrayed by Charlize Theron (The Old Guard) before crossing paths with the eponymous antihero of the mothership franchise. The film will be led by Golden Globe winner Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Endgame), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen).
The Mad Max prequel will again be written and directed by George Miller, who is co-producing the film along with Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell. Miller’s Australian-based Kennedy Miller Mitchell banner is also attached to produce.
The film is scheduled to make its debut in theaters on June 23, 2023.
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Mad Max: Fury Road, which opened in May of 2015, is the story of Max Rockatansky, played by Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises). Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There’s Max (Hardy), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos and Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. A Mad Max prequel might show us her life in The Green Place before she started working for Immortan Joe.
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Even though the film had a poor box-office turnout with a worldwide gross of over $370 million, it was still a critical success, with critics praising its cinematography, production design and the performances of Hardy and Theron, who both had a difficult time during filming. It also won six Oscar awards out of 10 nominations, including Best Production Design, Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design.
