Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest instalment of the post-apocalyptic franchise by Australian director George Miller, will get its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 15 May, organisers have said.
The fifth film in the series stars Anya Taylor-Joy (of Netflix The Queen's Gambit fame) as Furiosa – a character played by Charlize Theron in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, which also premiered at Cannes that year.
It returns to the origins of Furiosa, trying to return home, despite numerous hostile armed gangs.
She stars alongside Chris Hemsworth as the villain, Warlord Dementus, and Tom Burke.
"The idea of this prequel has been with me for over a decade,” said George Miller of the film, which is playing out-of-competition at Cannes.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to return to the Festival de Cannes – along with Anya, Chris and Tom – to share Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. There is no better place than La Croisette to experience this film with audiences on the world stage."
It all began with an ultra-low-budget action film in 1979 that also launched the career of Mel Gibson, about a near-future Australia facing societal collapse and oil shortages.
There were two sequels starring Gibson in the 1980s, before the franchise returned in 2015 with Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy that won six Academy Awards.
Throughout his career, Miller has constantly experimented with a variety of genres and was president of the Cannes jury in 2016 when Ken Loach's film I, Daniel Blake won the Palme d'or.
In 1983, along with John Landis, Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante, he directed the final segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Then came The Witches of Eastwick in 1987 and the intimate drama Lorenzo's Oil in 1992, starring Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte.
Miller has also directed children's hits like Babe and Happy Feet, as well as the mythological tale Three Thousand Years of Longing, with Tilda Swinton and Idriss Elba, which debuted at Cannes in 2022.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from 14-25 May, with Greta Gerwig as the head of its jury.
The full line-up is due to be announced on 11 April.
(with AFP)
