Furiosa spinoff casts Tom Burke to replace Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Tom Burke (Mank) is getting ready to hit the open road for George Miller’s Furiosa. Burke replaces Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on the Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy in the titular role. Abdul-Mateen says that he’s exiting the Furiosa spinoff due to scheduling conflicts, though he did not identify which project is conflicting with the film. Chris Hemsworth is also set to star.

George Miller will direct, co-write, and produce the Furiosa spinoff with his longtime producing partner Doug Mitchell. Plot details are scarce, though we do know that the story will delve into Furiosa’s origins.

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. announced that the Furiosa spinoff won’t be driving into theaters until May 24, 2024, Memorial Day weekend. The project will be the biggest production ever for Australia and is expected to create 850 jobs and bring $350 million AUD (around $272 million USD) to the local economy.

Before Furiosa gets rolling, Miller will finish up post-production work on Three Thousand Years of Longing, a romance drama starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba.

In Empire‘s Celebration of Edgar Wright issue, the director got together with Mad Max director George Miller, who brought up the moment Wright convinced him to cast Anya Taylor-Joy in the film. Miller had seen an early cut of Wright’s Last Night in Soho, which served as his first introduction to the actress.

“I’d known about Anya but I’d never seen her in a film until I saw her in Soho. And I remember thinking, ‘Gee, she’s interesting.’ I started to say to you, ‘I’m looking for someone to cast as Furiosa,’ and I barely got the sentence out before you said, ‘Don’t go any further, she’s great, she’s gonna be huge. She’s fantastic to work with.’ You were so emphatic about it.”

That was all George Miller needed to get the ball rolling on the audition process for Anya Taylor-Joy, which involved acting out a scene from Network. “I said to her, ‘I’d like you to do a very simple test, which is read something to camera.’ And it was the speech from Network. The ‘I’m mad as hell’ speech,” Miller explained. “Apart from the brilliance of the writing, it’s a piece that can be done to camera. It doesn’t need an acting partner. Anya did one version, which was really good. Then I gave her just a couple of simple notes about intention and she just absolutely nailed [it]“

What do you think about Burke replacing Yahya Abdul-Mateen? I’m a little bummed out. While I’m certain that Burke will do an outstanding job, I can never get enough of Abdul-Mateen in just about anything. Have you seen Nia DaCosta’s Candyman? He’s brilliant in that.