Furiosa Director Teases Prequel as a ‘Different Animal’ to Mad Max: Fury Road

Director George Miller is gearing up to return to the world of Mad Max with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the filmmaker has now teased how the prequel is “a different animal” to 2015’s Oscar winning Mad Max: Fury Road. Speaking with Empire, who have also release several new images which you can check out below, Miller revealed how much road Furiosa plans to cover as it explores the life and times of the character.

“The story is the saga of Furiosa, and how she gets taken from home, and spends the rest of her life trying to get back. [In] Fury Road, the story unfolds over three days and two nights. This film follows the story that runs directly into Fury Road, for 15 years. It’s a different animal. It’s got many different locations. It’s an odyssey. No question.”

Miller originally wrote the backstory of Imperator Furiosa as part of the process for making Mad Max: Fury Road. However, actress Charlize Theron was instantly taken with the post-apocalyptic tale, pleading with the director to make it a movie, and thus making Miller realize there was indeed a story to be told.

“She said, ‘Please, George, can we make this first?’ It was the first time I realised that there’s something really strong in this story.”

Of course, Theron will not be leading Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and instead The Northman and Dune 2 star Anya Taylor-Joy will step in. During the interview, the actress said that Theron has given her blessing, but Taylor-Joy was disappointed by one thing when taking over…

“She’s been so classy and kind in letting me go and do it. But I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person. I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests.

I was so excited to shave my head,” she says. “Then George saw me in real life, and went, ‘No, we can’t!’”

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Lands in Theaters in May

Directed by George Miller, who co-wrote it with Nico Lathouris, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga serves as the first spinoff in the Mad Max franchise and boasts an exciting cast of Anya Taylor-Joy, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson, Daniel Webber, Lachy Hulme, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Chris Hemsworth as Warlord Dementus.

You can check out the official synopsis for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga below.

“As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.”