AFTER more than five years of uncertainty, last week saw news that a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road will be produced right here in Australia.

Shooting for Furiosa will begin in 2022 in both Sydney and Road Warrior heartland Broken Hill, once again under the direction of George Miller. The film will act as an origin story for the titular character, who was introduced in Fury Road.

Though further plot details are practically non-existent, a few cast members have already been confirmed. Peaky Blinders and The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy will play a younger version of Furiosa (previously played by Charlize Theron), while Aussie icon Chris Hemsworth will have an as-yet unknown role.

Much like Fury Road, which spent decades in development hell, Furiosa faced a tumultuous development period. A script for the prequel has existed since before Fury Road was shot, but a court battle between Kennedy Miller Mitchell Productions and Warner Brothers over budget bonuses strained ties between the companies. In subsequent interviews, Miller was noncommittal as to when Furiosa would be made.

Unlike the previous Mad Max instalment, 1985’s family-friendly Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road was a runaway success, which many attribute to the return of proper car-on-car action. Dozens of wild but functional machines were built to star in Fury Road, many of which were spectacularly destroyed through practical stunts.

Considering the popularity of Fury Road’s cars and Furiosa’s established driving chops, it’s logical to expect plenty of metal to appear in this prequel film.

The exact timeframe of the Mad Max universe’s apocalypse is muddy, so it’s unclear how the world of Furiosa will look. However, George Miller has stated that the film will take place over a period of years, so it’s probable that a few stages of societal collapse will be shown. This bodes well for a variety of cars to appear – possibly even the beloved Main Force Patrol fleet from the original movie.

There’s no indication so far that Max Rockatansky himself will have a role in Furiosa, so the return of the legendary ‘Pursuit Special’ Falcon coupe seems improbable – but not impossible.

Furiosa is slated to hit cinemas in mid-2023. Until then, we’ll keep you updated with any news that comes our way.