Director George Miller had hoped to shoot Mad Max 5 - which would be a Furiosa spinoff - next year, and met with Anya Taylor-Joy for a role. Miller's post-apocalyptic franchise came roaring back to life in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road, a partial continuation of the Aussie filmmaker's original Mad Max trilogy that recast Tom Hardy in the role made famous by Mel Gibson. Of course, the movie's true breakout character was Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, a one-armed warrior who begrudgingly joins forces with Max before becoming true allies with him and turning the tables on their common enemy: the tyrannical - and grotesque - ruler of the Wasteland, Immortan Joe.
After Fury Road became a runaway success (even scoring six Oscar wins and a Best Picture nod for its efforts), Miller revealed his plans to make additional films in the Mad Max series, including a spinoff centered on Furiosa. However, the movies have failed to come together in the five years since then, in no small part because of a lawsuit between Miller and Warner Bros. involving the profits on Fury Road. Far from giving up, Miller has recently taken steps to begin shooting Mad Max 5 in 2021, even meeting with its potential star.
According to Variety, Taylor-Joy is among those who've met with Miller about the next Mad Max movie, which will apparently be a Furiosa spinoff. The director has been hoping to start production next year, but that may no longer be possible in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Variety's report doesn't clarify if Taylor-Joy is in the running to play a younger Furiosa in the spinoff or a different role, with Theron returning as the Fury Road heroine. Rumor has it the film will be a prequel movie that recasts the character, which could prove controversial in light of how much people loved the Oscar-winner's take on the seasoned warrior. On the other hand, Taylor-Joy has continued to demonstrate her versatility as a performer with great work in everything from period horror movies (The Witch) to M. Night Shyamalan thrillers (Split) and even Jane Austen adaptations (Emma.). That's to say, she would be an excellent choice to portray a pre-Fury Road iteration of Furiosa, if that's the direction Miller is headed.
Still, as mentioned earlier, there's no guarantee Miller will be able to get production going on the Furiosa spinoff as planned next year. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the entertainment industry (and, obviously, the entire world) in a short amount of time, and it's not at all clear when life will return to normal. Miller had been gearing up to begin shooting his fantasy-romance Three Thousand Years of Longing this year with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba (who, as it happens, has tested positive for the coronavirus), but production will almost certainly wind up being delayed. If so, Miller will have to hold off on shooting his Mad Max 5/Furiosa spinoff longer yet.
Source: Variety