George Miller’s hotly anticipated prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will have its world premiere at Cannes on 15 May, accompanied by the director and cast. It will screen in an Out of Competition gala screening at the Grand Théâtre Lumière at the Palais des Festivals, before opening worldwide later in the month.
The new film is directed, co-written and co-produced by George Miller, and shot in NSW. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) as the young Furiosa – the warrior woman depicted by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, which premiered at Cannes nine years ago.
This instalment, the fifth in the Mad Max franchise, is Furiosa’s origin story and follows her as she is taken away from the ‘Green Place of Many Mothers’ and immersed in a sinister world, coming into her own as she tries to return home – despite hordes of hostile armed bikie gangs. Chris Hemsworth (in heavy beard and maybe prosthetics) plays the warlord Dementus. The film also stars Tom Burke, Angus Sampson and Lachy Hulme, with Alyla Browne as a very young Furiosa.
The previous films in the ‘Western on wheels’ dystopian series all began with the ultra low-budget Mad Max (1979), starring Mel Gibson in the titular role. Then came Mad Max II: The Challenge (1981), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). This new instalment in the storyworld makes for five episodes in almost five decades, with a further one planned down the track – Mad Max: The Wasteland.
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Announcing the premiere at Cannes, George Miller said, ‘The idea of this prequel has been with me for over a decade. I couldn’t be more thrilled to return to the Festival de Cannes – along with Anya, Chris and Tom – to share Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. There is no better place than La Croisette to experience this film with audiences on the world stage.’
Known for his eclectic and wide-ranging filmography as director and producer, Miller’s previous films include Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Happy Feet (2006), and The Witches of Eastwick (1987). He was Cannes Jury member twice before becoming its President in 2016. In 2022, Miller went to Cannes with his fantasy-romanceThree Thousand Years of Longing, starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, which screened Out of Competition.
Here’s the trailer for Furiosa, which will smash into Australian cinemas on May 23, 2024.
