Absolutely furiosa that Charlize Theron won’t be starring in the “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel? Well, here’s the next best thing.
Director George Miller has long teased that the next film in his turbo-charged dystopian franchise would trace the origin story of Theron’s mighty one-armed Imperator Furiosa long before Max came into the picture.
But due to ongoing disputes between Miller’s production company and Warner Bros. studio over box office profits from “Fury Road,” the project has been stalled for years.
Now, the film appears to be back on track and the casting process has revved into high gear to find a new actor to fill the role of a young Furiosa.
“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 in an interview last week. “Despite the valiant attempts on ‘The Irishman,’ I think there’s still an uncanny valley.”
Enter “Killing Eve” star Jodie Comer, who’s reportedly in contention for the coveted role, according to a recent newsletter from The Hollywood Reporter.
The British star is best known for her breakout performance as the bloodthirsty assassin on the Phoebe Waller-Bridge-created BBC series, which earned her an Emmy trophy last year. But she’s leaning toward blockbusters as of late with a brief cameo in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” as Rey’s mother and a role in the upcoming historical drama “The Last Duel” alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Comer might have some stiff competition from Anya Taylor-Joy, who charmed audiences in the recent “Emma” adaptation, as she has also auditioned for a part in the prequel, per Variety.
Production on the film is still years away, however, given the COVID-19 pandemic and Miller’s plans to complete the coronavirus-delayed “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, first.
“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,” the director told the Times.
And as for what Furiosa was up to before she became a wasteland warrior in “Fury Road,” Miller had already written a screenplay detailing her backstory, which presumably takes place in the mythical Green Place, before he even started shooting the 2015 film.
“I got to read it when I was cast,” Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who starred alongside Theron in “Fury Road,” told the Times. “It’s genius. I’ve always wondered if that movie’s going to get made.”