Mad Max: Fury Road, the award-winning fourth installment in the Mad Max franchise was both a worthy successor to the original films and a blockbuster smash in its own right. The film was lauded for its incredible action set pieces and remarkable visual style, and given the film's financial success, it's no surprise that more Mad Max is on its way. The studio quickly announced that a prequel film was in development starring Furiosa, one of the main characters from Fury Road, and just recently, the film got an official release window.
While Charlize Theron played the character in Fury Road, the prequel, titled Furiosa, will star Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of the character. Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are also signed on to join Taylor-Joy in the film, and George Miller, the filmmaker behind all the previous Mad Max films is also returning to direct and produce the film, along with producing partner Doug Mitchell.
As part of a larger press release, Warner Bros. gave out premiere dates for three of its ongoing projects. All three films will be released in 2023 as part of that year's slate of theatrical releases. One of the projects is a musical adaptation of The Color Purple releasing on December 20th, another is Coyote vs. Acme, a family film set for July 21st, and Furiosa will debut in theaters on June 23rd.
Given how far out those dates are, it's no surprise that these films are still in the early stages of development, and as a result there aren't many details about any of them besides the very basics. All that's really known for sure is that Furiosa is supposedly a standalone prequel, and likely won't have much interaction with the broader Mad Max narrative.
That said, one potential script for a Fury Road sequel was titled Mad Max: Furiosa, so it does seem that there was, at some point, plans for the character to be a significant part of the universe going forward. While George Miller has since stated that future plans are still in flux, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Furiosa returning in other Mad Max projects, assuming the prequel film does well.
As the film gets closer to release the studio will undoubtedly start to drip feed more details over time. With any luck, fans will get to see some images and concept art soon, or at the very least, some kind of tease about the plot of the film. For now, though, audiences will have to bide their time watching the old Mad Max films, as it'll be quite the wait before Furiosa finally hits theaters.
Furiosa is set for a theater release on June 23rd, 2023.
Source: Variety