George Miller’s 2015 movie Mad Max: Fury Road is considered by many to be the greatest action film since The Matrix. With such an iconic piece of pop culture, the legends surrounding its making have also taken on an outsized dimension. One popular rumor that persists is that the film was made without a script. In a talk with IndieWire, Miller firmly negated the rumor.
“I’m not sure how the notion that Fury Road had no script came about. I suppose it’s because of the room lined with storyboards. Of course there was a script! How else could we have presented the project to a studio, cast and crew to elicit their interest?”
A follow up to the Mad Max franchise that was kickstarted with Mel Gibson, Fury Road saw Tom Hardy play a new version of the iconic Max Rockatansky, a desperado who is trying to make his way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. A chance encounter with a group of renegades led by the fiery imperator Furiosa forces Max to adjust his priorities and put his life on the line for the sake of others as they try to escape the clutches of Immortan Joe and his army.
Almost all of Fury Road takes place within a high-speed chase as Max and his friends play a game of chicken with Joe’s army. The entire story is told through a series of high-octane action scenes, and there is little in the way of dialogues beyond the bare minimum needed to keep moving the story forward.
With such a bare-bones approach to storytelling, viewers can be forgiven for thinking Miller simply set his actors on a bunch of post-apocalyptic vehicles next to cameras and let them go to town on each other in the desert. But the truth is, even such kind of filmmaking takes careful planning, and a script is essential to act as the foundation upon which the rest of the movie can be developed.
After the massive critical and commercial success of Fury Road, George Miller has announced an upcoming prequel that will focus on the younger days of the character of Furiosa, this time played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Recently, the young actress revealed her love for the character of Furiosa as portrayed by Charlize Theron, and her desire to put her own spin on the role.
“I fell in love with Furiosa, the way that Charlize presented her. She did such an incredible job and it was so beautiful and I can’t even think about trying to step into her shoes. It has to be something different because it just can’t be done.”
Helmed by George Miller, Mad Max: Furiosa features Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It is not yet known whether Tom Hardy will be making an appearance as Max, or whether Theron is going to have a cameo as an older Furiosa. The film does not yet have an announced release date. This news originated at IndieWire.