While George Miller’s original “Mad Max” trilogy had Mel Gibson’s Max as the clear lead character, 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” saw Tom Hardy’s take on the character very much sharing the screen with Charlize Theron’s new character Furiosa.
Now, Miller is prepping for the shoot of “Furiosa,” a prequel that will put the focus on a younger version of the character – this time played by “The Queen’s Gambit” alum Anya Taylor-Joy who will co-star with Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
By all indications, Hardy and the Max character will not return and there’s not been any indication of Miller continuing with another feature focused on Max for now.
During a lengthy chat with Esquire to promote the upcoming “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” Hardy says he has no problem with a ‘changing of the guard’ and the franchise shifting towards Furiosa as ‘Fury Road’ was very much a stepping stone towards that:
“That was ultimately Furiosa’s movie. Which was fantastic. ‘Fury Road. Furiosa.’ It was in the title. If you look at it now, it was a changeover of hands in a way, from Mad Max to Furiosa. That’s what they’re filming now. Furiosa. It was a very well-implemented changing of the guard. [Miller’s] still got Mad Max, but he’s split his feed between two characters, and that’s really, really cool.”
“Furiosa” is targeting a shoot at the Fox Studios facility in Sydney which was recently used for films like “Shang-Chi” and “Thor: Love & Thunder”. Warners has already set a June 23rd 2023 release.
