“Mad Max: Fury Road” Prequel “Furiosa” Unveils Excellent Cast

Five years later, Mad Max: Fury Road remains one of the biggest cinematic achievements of the 2010s. George Miller's wild action sequel won six Oscars, though lost Best Picture and Best Director to Spotlight and The Revenant, respectively. While both were fine films, neither could match Fury Road's sheer audacity. Miller, 75, hasn't directed a film since, and has mostly been involved in lawsuits against Warner Bros. over profits for the film, which earned $375 million worldwide.

But now it seems all that has been resolved and his Furiosa prequel, which will be co-written with Doug Mitchell, is a go. While Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy won't be returning, the new cast is terrific in their own right. Anya Taylor-Joy (last seen in the long-delayed The New Mutants) will take up the titular role, with Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (HBO's Watchmen) and Chris Hemsworth (who's currently in pre-production on the fourth Thor movie) announced so far.

No date has been announced for production to start, which is understandable given [gestures at everything happening in the world]. Hopefully it will have a quicker turnaround than its predecessor, which began filming in 2012 but didn't see release until summer 2015.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.