Candyman‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has had to leave Mad Max Fury Road prequel Furiosa due to scheduling conflicts. He is to be replaced by British actor Tom Burke, in his first major studio role.
Furiosa will star Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character in the critically-acclaimed apocalyptic action film directed by Australian George Miller.
Miller returned to the world of Mad Max in 2015 after a thirty year gap. He made a trilogy of Mad Max films starring Mel Gibson between 1979-1985, which had become cult classics. Fury Road co-starred Tom Hardy and went on to surprisingly huge box office and critical success, winning six Oscars, as well as being nominated for Best Picture.
The prequel, Furiosa, will also star Chris Hemsworth, in the first major movie he has made in his native Australia. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will next be seen playing the Morpheus role in The Matrix Resurrections. It is unclear which project has caused the scheduling conflict, but he is obviously in demand. Sources say that it is a “secret passion project,” according to Deadline.
Tom Burke has been working mainly in British television and independent films for around two decades. His TV credits include State of Play, The Hour, War & Peace, The Musketeers and CB Strike, in which he plays detective Cormoran Strike.
His film credits include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir and David Fincher’s Oscar-nominated Mank, in which he played Orson Welles.
The standalone prequel will probably cover Furiosa’s backstory in her birthplace the Green Place, where she is a Vuvalini of Many Mothers. Furiosa was kidnapped from this land as a child and presumably take to Immortan Joe.
Whatever Furiosa has in store for us, it will be highly anticipated and could join Fury Road as one of the best action movies.