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The Mad Max: Fury Road prequel titled Furiosa is scheduled for release in May 2024. The film was originally intended to premiere in June 2023, but was put off by about one year.
The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy is going to play a younger version of the war captain known as Imperator Furiosa. The character was portrayed by Charlize Theron in Fury Road, which was itself a reboot of the original Mad Max series of movies from the 1970s and ‘80s.
Furiosa will be written and directed by George Miller, who played similar roles in the 2015 film. Many of the original, key crew members will also be returning alongside him. The same cannot be said of the cast, however, considering the story is set in a prior time.
In Fury Road, Theron was joined by Tom Hardy in one of the leading roles. Things would become so tense between the two stars as filming got underway, to the extent that the actress felt unsafe working with her “aggressive” co-star, and even had to ask for protection against him. Hardy has since expressed regret for his behavior.
What Role Did Tom Hardy Play In Mad Max: Fury Road?
The official synopsis for Mad Max: Fury Road reads: “Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa leads the despot's five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky, a loner and former captive.
This plot summary is published on the Apple TV website, and goes on to say: “Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.”
Tom Hardy played the classic Max Rockatansky, who was first portrayed by Mel Gibson in the original trilogy between 1979 and 1985. The character Imperator Furiosa was not involved in the storylines of those first films, and was only introduced by Charlize Theron in the 2015 movie.
Other cast members from Fury Road included Nicholas Hoult as Nux, Joshua Helman as Slit and Zoë Kravitz as Toast the Knowing. Hugh Keays-Byrne appeared as the main antagonist, Immortan Joe.
What Happened Between Tom Hardy And Charlize Theron On The Set Of Mad Max: Fury Road?
The detailed information about the fallout between Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road first became public in February 2022. This was after a book titled Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild And True Story Of Mad Max: Fury Road was published, authored by New York Times columnist, Kyle Buchanan.
The publication was compiled from interviews collated from various cast and crew members of the George Miller film. Theron recalled how bad things got between him and Hardy, saying that they became like two feuding parents who the rest of the cast had to bear with, and described their heated exchanges as “horrible.”
“I don’t want to rehash things, but it came out of a really bad moment where things kind of came to blows between me and Tom,” she said, as was later reported by Vanity Fair.
The fights are said to have mostly stemmed from Hardy being constantly late to work, and then reacting with venom whenever questioned about it by Theron.
Tom Hardy Regretted His Behavior On The Set Of Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hardy was at the top of his game at the time when he was working on Mad Max: Fury Road. In that same year, his movies Legend and The Revenant were also released. It could be said that 2015 was the most prolific year of his career in that sense. For The Revenant, he was in fact nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor.”
Perhaps this might have contributed to his aggressive mannerisms towards Charlize Theron while they worked together. That being said, he has been on record expressing regret about that behavior.
Speaking to Kyle Buchanan of the NY Times, he said: “In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. What [Charlize] needed was a better, perhaps more experienced, partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”
Theron was also graceful towards her colleague, and took up her own share of the blame. “In retrospect, I didn’t have enough empathy to really, truly understand what he must have felt like to step into Mel Gibson’s shoes,” she said.