An extended preview of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has dropped and we are not disappointed. Furiosa is a prequel to Mad Max, Fury Road, with the official synopsis laying out the plot like so:
‘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.’
While Furiosa appears to have more VFX that is predecessor, the word is that it is full of spectacular practical effects and stunningly-crafted cars, trucks and bikes. You can suss out a special preview of them in the video below:
Anya Taylor-Joy plays the young, pre-amputation Furiosa and Chris Hemsworth makes his debut in the franchise as Dementus. Lachy Hulme takes over the role of Immortan Joe from the late Hugh Keays-Byrne. Angus Sampson returns as the Organic Mechanic, alongside giant bloke Nathan Jones as Joe’s son, Rictus Erectus.
Vehicle-wise, there is plenty to chew on and it is clear that director George Miller has again demanded stacks of detail from the crew creating the cars, bikes and trucks.
Cranky Black
For starters, there is a hot rod-meets-buggy thing dubbed Cranky Black that has a BIG turbo or two mounted above the trunk. And a Big & Ugly scoop sticking up over the roof, naturally. I wonder if Rictus will pull this one off with his bare hands….
Valiant Effort
For the Mopar fans, Furiosa pilots a wildly-modified Plymouth Valiant, which is apparently still slant six-powered. This confirms our long-held suspicion that Chrysler’s Leaning Tower of Power will survive the end of the world.
Chariot of Fire
Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus rides on a chariot pulled by three choppers. The primary chopper is powered by a seven-cylinder Rotec radial plane engine, naturally. The Humungus would be proud! Camper than a row of tents.
The Six Foot
Looks like there will be plenty for truck fans to chew on, dig this six-wheel monster:
Fuel for thought
Look at the detail on the tanker! Not sure what to make of the rims, though. It always amazes me how much time they had for craftsmanship in the post-acpocolypse.
Death from above
Shades of the Gyro Captain?
But wait, there’s more
Besides the vehicles, it is cool to see the design of Immortan Joe and his war boys appear fully-formed. Dementus’s character design is also pretty trick. I mean, check out the store dummy on the front of the bike here – a clear call back to the dummy Johnny the Boy blows away in the orginal Mad Max.
Like Fury Road, the screenplay was co-written by Nico Lathouris, aka the guy who played Grease Rat in Mad Max.
The story to here, 12 July 2023
It’s seemed like forever, but Mad Max prequel Furiosa is drawing closer! When the prequel was officially confirmed in April 2021 , a mid-2023 release was tipped.
We’re now smack-bang in the middle of that timeframe with not so much as a poster or teaser trailer, so what’s the deal?
Well, there’s now a confirmed release date of May 23, 2024, and filming wrapped in late 2022. Starting in Hay and Road Warrior heartland Broken Hill, the production crew then moved to Kurnell, Sydney for more.
A variety of wasteland-ified cars have been revealed through sneaky photography, including a smattering of new stuff and some Fury Road hero cars. Director George Miller has said the flick is a “saga” spanning 15 years, which bodes well for some variety on the car side.
It may be wishful thinking, but that could mean we see OG Mad Max-style rides.
Starting with the freshies, there’s a mean-looking six-wheeler with a Mack cab and a whole lot of megaphones. This one reportedly belongs to Chris Hemsworth’s bad guy, Dr. Dementus, so odds are it’s a command vehicle of sorts.
The huge War Rig became an icon of Fury Road, and there looks to be another killer truck coming in the form of this hydraulic arm-equipped prime mover.
A stripped out, armed Yank tank was also seen on the Kurnell fortress set. We haven’t been able to positively ID it based on the grainy photos, but we’re happy to hear conjecture!
The ‘Fury Road Vehicles’ blog noticed this ‘59 Oldsmobile that’s reportedly been bought by the production team. It’s not clear if it’ll be left as-is for pre-apocalypse scenes, or heavily modified.
Plenty of bikes have been spotted too, ridden by Fury Road’s War Boys and what seem to be Rock Riders, as has a mobile surgery trike piloted by Angus Sampson’s Organic Mechanic.
More Fury Road veterans include the spare-carrying ‘Tyre Medic’ F100 from the War Boys’ arsenal, and even the mighty ‘Doof Wagon’ truck.
The ‘48 Buick Special dubbed ‘Polecat No.7’ has been spied, alongside ‘Clawcar No.1,’ a 1980 F250 with a harpoon gun and ripper-style tray fitout.
Both cars appeared at 2015’s Fury Road vehicle showcase at the Sydney Opera House, and their return in Furiosa suggests we could see a younger Immortan Joe.
The cars (among 11 others) were put up for tender by Lloyds in 2021, though it’s unclear if they failed to sell or have been leased back to Miller’s crew for the movie.
The twin-stacked Caddy-based Gigahorse has also been snapped in transit, lending more credence to the theory.
Most interesting of all is this shot of the one and only Pursuit Special / last of the V8 Interceptors in Fury Road-ish form.
While there’s no sign of our man Max Rockatansky in what we know of Furiosa so far, we could expect a cameo. Otherwise, maybe it’s just there to troll folks like us!
Furiosa will hit Australian cinemas on May 23, 2024
Filming took place in Broken Hill and Hay as well as a sand near Sydney, NSW
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth star in Furiosa, with Angus Sampson and Nathan Jones set to return
George Miller says Furiosa covers a 15-year “saga” in the leadup to Mad Max: Fury Road
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