Furiosa Release Date, Cast, Plot, Trailer And More Details

In 2015, we all witnessed the glory of "Mad Max: Fury Road." With George Miller at the helm, the action blockbuster roared into theaters and captured $374 million and six Academy Awards. Perhaps more importantly, the film's reputation has only grown over the past several years, with many hailing the movie as a modern-day classic and one of the best action flicks ever made.

Now, it's time to ride again, shiny and chrome. George Miller and company are returning to that post-apocalyptic landscape, only this time, they're traversing the desert without Max Rockatansky. Instead, the film will solely focus on the breakout character of "Fury Road" — Imperator Furiosa — and it will also be jumping back in time to explore the action hero's backstory.

So what can we expect when the "Fury Road" prequel hits the big screen? Is Charlize Theron returning to play her iconic character? What villains will Furiosa find herself facing off against? And what wild story does George Miller have in mind? Well, grab your flame-throwing guitar and buckle up as we look at everything you need to know about "Furiosa."

"Furiosa" isn't some idea that some studio executives quickly came up with after the success of "Fury Road." Instead, director George Miller has been formulating this story for a long time — almost as long as the fourth "Mad Max" movie itself.

While working on "Fury Road," Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris started writing down backstories for all the characters to help bring their Wasteland adventure to life. Needless to say, they spent a ton of time developing Furiosa. After all, while Max's name is in the title, Furiosa is the true star of the movie, and Miller wanted to make sure all the major players involved truly understood the one-armed warrior.

"It was purely a way of helping Charlize [Theron] and explaining it to ourselves," Miller told The New York Times. However, there was something about Furiosa's backstory that really stuck in the director's brain. In fact, he was so fascinated by the Imperator that he wanted to give Furiosa her own film, and working with Lathouris, he actually wrote the script for "Furiosa" before he started filming "Fury Road." 

So when will we see Miller's vision come to life? Expect Furiosa's story to unfold on May 24, 2024. 

In "Mad Max: Fury Road," we last saw Furiosa taking Immortan Joe's citadel, allowing everyone access to water, and leading her people into a brighter, peaceful future. So what happens next for her? Well, we're not sure, and we probably won't find out in "Furiosa," as the film is a prequel that takes place 15 years before "Fury Road."

We also know that "Furiosa" will be a massive epic, with director George Miller telling Deadline, "Probably the biggest difference [between 'Fury Road' and 'Furiosa'] is the timespan. 'Fury Road' happened over three days and two nights, and this one happens over 15 years. So, it's a saga."

In addition to the timeline, we also know what the story will be about, and it sounds pretty incredible. According to the official plot synopsis, "As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home."

Since "Furiosa" takes place 15 years before "Fury Road," George Miller decided to recast the titular hero with a younger actress. So who will be driving Charlize Theron's War Rig? It's none other than Anya Taylor-Joy, who excels at both dramatic fare and wild genre material. She won a Golden Globe for her turn as troubled chess master Beth Harmon in "The Queen's Gambit," and she's stolen the show in horror films such as "Split," "The Witch," and "The Menu." 

When talking to IndieWire, Taylor-Joy said she did her own stunt driving in the film and admitted she had a blast while shooting the pic. "It's the dirtiest and bloodiest I have ever been, which is saying something, genuinely saying something," the actress explained. "Any time I get to be dirty or bloody and not perfectly prim and pretty, I'm just having a ball, that's where I feel most comfortable."

Taylor-Joy will be joined by the god of thunder himself, Chris Hemsworth. The longtime Thor actor portrays the villainous biker war lord Dementus, and Hemsworth loved working on the movie, telling GQ that filming "Furiosa" was "the best experience of my career and something I feel the most proud of." We can also expect to see Tom Burke of "War & Peace" and "Mank." While we don't know who Burke is playing, we do know that he's filling in for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ("Ambulance," "Candyman"), who had to step away from the film. He'll be joined by Angus Sampson and Nathan Jones, who respectively played the Organic Mechanic and Rictus Erectus in "Fury Road."

After a long wait, the official trailer for "Furiosa" dropped at Brazil's 2023 CCXP event, returning us to a world of fire and blood. Here, we see Furiosa wandering the wastelands as a woman's voice begs her to find her way home. We're then introduced to Chris Hemsworth's Dementus, a swaggering figure who soon gets in a face-off with Immortan Joe himself. 

The trailer also shows the fabled Green Place in its glory days as women run to battle, we watch as the War Boys ride in search of Valhalla, and we witness Furiosa herself tearing through the desert on a motorcycle. We also glimpse a tender moment between the warrior and the character played by Tom Burke, and we have to assume that's going to end poorly for our hero. 

Filled with images of impressive battles and fiery explosions, the trailer ends with Dementus asking Furiosa, "Do you have in ya to make it epic?" Based on all this amazing footage, we're assuming the answer is a great big "yes."

Every single movie in the "Mad Max" universe has been overseen by the great George Miller. The Australian filmmaker originally wanted to be a doctor, but he gave up medicine for movie magic. In 1979, he rode the Australian New Wave and announced himself as an up-and-coming auteur with the first "Mad Max." He followed that up with the game-changing "Road Warrior" and TNT mainstay "Beyond Thunderdome" before returning to the Wasteland with "Fury Road." Believe it or not, Miller was 70 when the fourth "Mad Max" film hit theater screens, meaning this old man is making better action movies than most 20-something filmmakers.

The fact that Miller wants to work on "Furiosa" at all is really saying something. If you look at the filmographies of Miller's contemporaries — Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, etc. — they've all been very prolific. Miller, on the other hand, has only made 10 feature-length movies during his career (not counting "Furiosa"). The man is incredibly picky with his projects, and the fact that he decided to make "Furiosa" means it's a story that's dear to his heart. Crazier still, the filmmaker is nearing 80 years old at this point, and the fact he's still out here shooting massive car chases in the deserts of Australia proves Miller is one of a kind.

Additionally, Miller is co-writing the film with Nick Lathouris, who also co-wrote "Fury Road." Lathouris has long been connected to the franchise, playing a character named Grease Rat in the very first "Mad Max" movie. Clearly, Lathouris has dust and gasoline running in his veins because he's helped create an apocalyptic world without cinematic equal.

George Miller and Nico Lathouris aren't the only "Mad Max" creatives coming back for "Furiosa." Much like Immortan Joe summoning his War Boys, Miller has reassembled many of the key players who made "Fury Road" so special. For example, production designer Colin Gibson is returning for the new movie. Gibson won an Oscar for his work on the fourth "Mad Max," and he promises "Furiosa" is going to be even bigger and better. Speaking with The New York Times, Gibson revealed that while 88 wild vehicles appeared in "Fury Road," he actually designed 135. He then promised the newspaper, "The next possible iteration ... has even more."

John Seale is also coming back as cinematographer. Seale has lent his cinematic expertise to projects such as "Witness," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and "The English Patient," but in recent years, he's only worked with George Miller — with "Fury Road" and "Three Thousand Years of Longing" being his most recent projects. Plus, Margaret Sixel (pictured) is returning as the film's editor. Editing was crucial to the power and impact of "Fury Road," and Sixel's work on the film earned her an Academy Award, so we can't wait to see what she does in "Furiosa." (Sixel, by the way, is Miller's wife — talk about a power couple!)

Rounding out this supergroup, we've got Ben Osmo on sound mixing and Lesley Vanderwalt on makeup design, and yep, both of them walked away from the 88th Academy Awards with Oscars for their incredible work on "Fury Road." This group made absolute magic back in 2015, and now that Miller has called back his dream team, we're super psyched to see what wonders they'll work in "Furiosa."

While we're waiting to finally visit the Green Place when it was actually a paradise, you might want to revisit the previous "Mad Max" movies — both to see Furiosa's grand introduction to the franchise and to revel in the post-apocalyptic vibes.

Obviously, the most important film before watching "Furiosa" is "Mad Max: Fury Road," where Furiosa rebels against Immortan Joe and drives his slave brides to freedom. You can rent "Fury Road" on sites like Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube.

Now, if you just want to spend more time in this world of roving gangs and cutthroat desert dwellers, we've got you covered. You can start by traveling back to 1979's "Mad Max," the movie that kicked the series into high gear. You can rent it on sites like Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu.

The next film in the franchise, "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior," really sets the tone of the series and establishes a new look for post-apocalyptic films, with its desert landscapes and blend of medieval barbarism with punk hairstyles and leather jackets. You can rent "The Road Warrior" on sites like Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube.

Then there's "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," featuring Tina Turner as the spotlight-stealing Aunty Entity and one of the best movie lines of all time: "Two men enter; one man leaves." "Beyond Thunderdome" is available to rent on Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV and Vudu.