‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Prequel Will Focus On Young Furiosa, Says Director George Miller
“For the longest time, I thought we could just use CG de-aging on Charlize. Despite the valiant attempts on ‘The Irishman,’ I think there’s still an uncanny valley.”
A standalone prequel to 2015’s beloved Mad Max: Fury Road that focuses on Imperator Furiosa is currently in the works. But according to director George Miller, Charlize Theron likely won’t return to play a younger version of the badass heroine.
“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,” Miller told the New York Times, adding that he’s searching for an actress in her early 20s to portray the coveted role.
“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.”
The timeline for a Furiosa prequel is uncertain. Miller told the Times that he aims to begin working on the movie after wrapping Three Thousand Years of Longing starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. Production of that drama has been delayed by and industry-wide shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“So after we finish it, and hopefully everything settles down with the pandemic, we’ll see what the world allows us to do with Furiosa,” he said.
Despite these unavoidable drawbacks, some of the pieces are already in place. Prior to filming Fury Road, Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris penned an extensive Furiosa screenplay that details her past life in the tranquil “Green Place,” as well as her transition into a hardened warrior.
“It was purely a way of helping Charlize and explaining it to ourselves,” Miller said.
“I got to read it when I was cast,” Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who played Splendid in Fury Road, said of the Furiosa screenplay. “It’s genius. I’ve always wondered if that movie’s going to get made.”
I’ll never forget the feeling of seeing my war rig for the first time and realizing holy shit, George is not f*cking around. pic.twitter.com/LCD0SiIjRZ
— Charlize Theron (@CharlizeAfrica) May 14, 2020
Theron seems to remember her time on the set of Fury Road fondly. The Oscar-winning actress tweeted a clip of her dystopian mode of transportation.
“I’ll never forget the feeling of seeing my war rig for the first time and realizing holy shit, George is not f*cking around,” she wrote.
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