Mad Max spin-off Furiosa will be Australia’s biggest production ever

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's been a long time coming, but George Miller will finally be turning his attention to Furiosa, the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel that will chart the origins of Imperator Furiosa before she became one of Immortan Joe's war captains and met up with Max Rockatansky in the 2015 film. The film will find Anya Taylor-Joy playing Furiosa, and she'll be joined by Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

At a recent press-conference to officially announce the project, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that Furiosa will be "the biggest ever film to be made in Australia, supporting more than 850 local jobs and bringing in $350 million to the economy." The film will kick off production early next year and George Miller teased how it will be different from Fury Road, describing it as a saga.

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.

George Miller had actually intended to shoot a key sequence for Furiosa this summer before higher tax incentives were supposed to expire, but when the government reversed the decision, Miller was able to hold off, but he said that they already "had vehicles built, stunts prepared and we were well into that process." Miller said that Furiosa is "a story that I can't wait to see in a cinema," and Chris Hemsworth, who was present at the press-conference, added that joining the cast of the project was the biggest "pinch myself moment" of his career. "It's a huge honour," Hemsworth said. "A lot of pressure but exciting pressure that is certainly motivating." Furiosa is currently slated to hit theaters on June 23, 2023.