Charlize Theron Still Wants to Make A Furiosa Prequel; Let’s Pray George Miller is Listening
Zack Sharf
Long live Imperator Furiosa!
When “Mad Max: Fury Road” opened in theaters two years ago, two things became instantly clear: The movie was a new action classic and Charlize Theron‘s Furiosa was the genre’s new iconic heroine. Fans have been hoping that rumors of a Furiosa prequel film end up happening ever since we met the one-armed badass, and it turns out Theron is still on board with the idea, too. She’s just waiting for Miller to make a decision like the rest of us are.
“I’d love to,” Theron said when asked by Variety about whether or not she’d be interested in a Furiosa prequel. “There were three scripts. They were written as back stories to Max’s character and to Furiosa’s character. But at the end of the day, this thing lives and breathes with [director] George [Miller]. I think Warner Bros. knows that. We are all waiting for him to show us the way.”
Miller isn’t jumping on the “Mad Max” bandwagon just yet. Despite the success of “Fury Road,” which made $378.9 million worldwide and won six Oscars, the director hasn’t committed to the next entry in the franchise. Earlier this year, Miller expressed interest in making two more movies, but he’s also intent on making something on a smaller scale first.
“These characters and these worlds tend to swirl around in the back of your brain like imaginary friends,” he told The Independent. “We dug deep into the subtext, the backstory of all the characters, and indeed the world and without really thinking about it, we wrote two other screenplays just as part of the bible of the stories. Somewhere, if the planets align, there will be two other films.”
These “bible stories” Miller refers to is what Theron seems to be referencing when she tells Variety that individual scripts were written for Max and Furiosa’s characters. We may not know when this prequel will start production, but Miller clearly has a script he wants to turn into a movie and Theron clearly would love to return and play the character. Sounds like a recipe for success.
The Variety interview also includes a cool nugget of information regarding Furiosa’s creation. It turns out Miller didn’t originally intend for the character to look the way she does in the finished cut.
“Originally, [George] liked this idea that even though they were in the desert, something happened and people actually turned albino,” Theron said. “They became these white ghosts. I had this white hair, kind of like Abbey Lee character. It was very much like that: blonde, bleached, very pale skin, no eyebrows. We played around with African war paint. It would have been a completely different film.”
We’re glad Miller went with the buzzcut and one arm look. And we’ll be even more glad whenever he officially announces a Furiosa sequel is a go. Theron will be back in theaters and kicking butt in “Atomic Blonde,” which opens July 28.
Stay on top of the latest TV news! Sign up for our TV email newsletter here.
