The genie is out of the bottle because the trailer for George Miller’s follow up to Mad Max: Fury Road is finally here after what feels like longing for three thousand years. The fantasy movie stars Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba and will be released in theatres this summer.
Three Thousand Years of Longing sees Swinton playing a lonely writer names Alithea. She selects a memento in the grand bazaar of Instanbul, which is a blue glass bottle. In her hotel room, she manages to prise it open and a giant Idris Elba explodes out of it. Fortunately, he isn’t painted blue.
Alithea asks the genie what one does with three wishes, and he gives a series of violent and murderous examples. Alithea wisely points out that; “there’s no story about wishing that is not a cautionary tale.” The genie says that “we all have desires” and he that he can’t wait to find out where Alithea’s story goes. It seems as though Alithea may be looking for love. Most importantly, Madge from Neighbours (Anne Charleston) pops up at one point.
There are plenty of bizarre, large-scale fantasy visuals in the trailer. This shouldn’t come as a surprise from Australian director George Miller, who has a sparse but eclectic filmography which includes The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo’s Oil, Babe: Pig in the City, Happy Feet…and four Mad Max movies. Fury Road was unexpectedly hailed as a critically-acclaimed masterpiece when it was released in 2015, earning a Best Picture nomination.
Check out the trailer for Three Thousand Years of Longing below;
Three Thousand Years of Longing is co-written by Miller and Augusta Gore. It will be screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
If you’re as excited for it as we are, you’ll probably also like Everything, Everywhere, All at Once – check out our review.