Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa was an unexpected breakouts in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which released five short years ago. So iconic has she become that director George Miller has decided to give Furiosa her own origin story movie. Sadly, however, Theron won’t be return to play the dystopian icon.
During an interview with New York Times, Miller revealed that he was looking a new, younger actress to play a Furiosa in her twenties. Miller claimed he had considered using digital de-aging to make the 44 year old Theron appear younger, similar to how Captain Marvel used CG to de-age Samuel L. Jackson to play a ’90s Nick Fury, but ultimately decided against it. Miller referred to how such a method was used on Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci in the making of The Irishman, and called the execution “an uncanny valley” and said, “I don’t think we’re nearly there yet.”
Miller, who broke into the film industry with the original Mad Max and directed its three sequels, plans to begin shooting the Furiosa movie once he is done with Three Thousand Years of Longing with Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. In a 2019 interview with IndieWire, when asked about potential sequels to Fury Road, Miller said, “There are two stories, both involving Mad Max, and also a Furiosa story…it seems to be pretty clear that it’s going to happen.”
The legacy of Furiosa casts a long shadow. Theron won several “Best Actress” awards for her performance, including the Critics’ Choice Award. Whomever takes over her role will have big boots to fill.
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