There has been a lot of talk this week about the future of “Mad Max: Fury Road” spinoff centering round former Imperator Furiosa, and what creator George Miller has in mind for the 5th installment in the post apocalyptic franchise.
Notably, outlets immediately jumping to the conclusion that Oscar winner Charlize Theron would NOT be returning for Furiosa’s solo film. This idea comes from the notion that Miller has said he is planning the film to be a prequel, centering around Furiosa’s younger days, and how she went from the Many Mothers’ Swaddledog Clan to Immortan Joe’s Citadel and the head of the War Rig.
There was this recent New York Times interview with Miller, wherein he revealed that the idea to digitally de-age Theron for the role wouldn’t really be an option at this time. The NYT author made the jump within the article that Theron would not be returning.
“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 said. “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.”
You’ll note Miller doesn’t outright say this means she WON’T be back- just that they’re not using the same tech for this purpose.
There were reports earlier this year that Miller had been meeting with actresses via zoom in the 20-25 range to possibly conduct casting reads for the part, but this was never confirmed. They could easily have been for his next film, “3,000 Years of Longing,” which was meant to start filming (they were already in production) in March of 2020 when the worldwide pandemic hit.
This isn’t to say we won’t be seeing a new (and younger) Furiosa in her solo film- but that could easily be explained/accomplished with a flashback sequence, or even (as rumors have stated) a two-part film following both a young and a “Fury Road“-era Furiosa.
Theron took to her personal Twitter yesterday to share several behind-the-scenes tidbits, such as this video which had never been seen before.
A few outlets claimed these tweets meant she was “coming to terms” with being told she would not be involved. But again, it was MORE THAN LIKELY to mark the 5-year May 15th anniversary of “Mad Max: Fury Road” hitting theaters.
The NYT does say that Production Designer Colin Gibson, who won an Oscar for his work on “Fury Road” is set to return for this film (if and when it happens), as well as cinematographer John Seale.
Considering just how long and how much hell the previous film took to make it to theaters 5 years ago today, we’re willing to wait for the right alchemy to witness the next chapter.
Shiny & Chrome.
