Technology caused a change of actress to protagonist in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

George Miller, the director of Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga, recently shared with Comicbook the reasons why Charlize Theron did not return for the lead role in the new film in the Mad Max series. Miller revealed that he initially wanted Theron back, until he realized that CGI rejuvenation technology was not ready for this. According to him, the technology was not up to the task of telling a story that takes place more than 20 years since the previous film, Mad Max: Fury Road.

The original concept was for Theron to reprise her role in the precursor film, but that idea was quickly abandoned. Instead, Anya Taylor-Joy took on the role of Furiosa in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Shortly after the release of Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller was under pressure for a sequel. The film was a box office phenomenon and received Oscar nominations in important categories. It was clear that the star of the film was Furiosa, the anti-heroine played by Theron.

“Everyone read the script a few years ago, the concept art and everything, and everyone read the script to make Fury Road, not just the actors, but everyone. Charlize read it about six months before and said, ‘We have to do it. this first.’ I said, Charlize, we’ve been trying to make this movie for almost a decade and we’re all ready to make this one. We have to do it, but she was very excited about the idea,” Miller told ComicBook.

“My intention was that we would do it, that we would do it next. But now we’ve gone through the third parent company, Warner Bros, and there are about four different policies. The situation calmed down by the time we started making Furiosa, but already it had been almost a decade. And then I thought, “Okay, we can still do this with Charlize.” Then I saw other films like “The Irishman,” which rejuvenated people, and in particular, “Project Gemini.” looking at the technology; I wasn’t looking at the representation. I thought, ‘We can’t do that’.”