George Miller confirms Charlize Theron will not play Furiosa in prequel

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Although MAD MAX franchise mastermind George Miller wants to make another sequel, which he calls MAD MAX: THE WASTELAND, before he gets there he's planning to make a prequel about the character Furiosa, who was played by Charlize Theron in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Unfortunately, the film being a prequel means that Theron will not be able to be reprise the role. Miller is searching for an actress in her twenties to play Furiosa, and rumor is that Anya Taylor-Joy is a contender.

Miller told The New York Times, 

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."

When making the FURIOSA film, Miller will be working from a script he wrote with Nick Lathouris before FURY ROAD went into production. Miller and Lathouris crafted detailed back stories for every character in the film, and they found Furiosa's story to be so fascinating they were compelled to write an entire screenplay about her.

Miller sought to answer questions about what the character’s life was like in the idyllic "Green Place," why she was plucked from the group of woman warriors known as the Vuvalini, and how she became the hardened warrior we meet by the time FURY ROAD begins.

Actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley even got to read the FURIOSA script when she was cast to play the character Splendid in FURY ROAD, and said, 

It’s genius. I’ve always wondered if that movie’s going to get made."

Now it looks like it's going to get made – and production designer Colin Gibson has hinted that it's going to be even bigger than FURY ROAD. 135 vehicles were built for FURY ROAD, and FURIOSA will require more than that.

FURY ROAD cinematographer John Seale went into retirement after that film was completed, but will be going back to work for FURIOSA.

But before Miller gets to FURIOSA, he plans to make the drama THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. That film was supposed to be in production by now, but had to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I would rather see MAD MAX: THE WASTELAND than a FURIOSA prequel, but hopefully this will turn out to be awesome anyway.