The next Mad Max movie will be a prequel about Furiosa

At long last, it seems like George Miller’s follow-up to his 2015 masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road is underway. In an interview with the New York Times, Miller confirmed that he was working on a prequel focused on Furiosa, the character played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road.

However, Theron won’t be back: Miller is looking for a younger actress to fill in Furiosa’s back story, and has reportedly already begun auditions. (Notably rumored to be in the running: The Witch and Split’s Anya Taylor-Joy.) Though Miller had considered using de-aging technology to keep Theron in the role, he said the technology just isn’t as good as he needs it to be: “Everyone is on the verge of solving it, particular Japanese video-game designers, but there’s still a pretty wide valley, I believe.”

Miller revealed that the idea had been in the works for a while, as coming up with character details in the lead-up to Fury Road had tapped a well of inspiration when it came to Furiosa. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who played Splendid, said that the script had already been written by the time Fury Road was shooting, and that she’d gotten to read it after being cast. “It’s genius,” she said.

Fury Road production designer Colin Gibson and cinematographer John Seale are set to return for the film, which promises to be even bigger and badder than the one that inspired it.

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