Tom Burke is about to join the Mad Max universe. According to Deadline, Burke has been cast in director George Miller's Mad Max spin-off film Furiosa. Burke will be taking over for a role that was previously cast with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who is said to be leaving the film for a passion project that recently moved up its production schedule.
Furiosa will be Burke's first film from a major studio like Warner Bros. His previous acting work includes this year's True Things (directed by Harry Wootliff) and 2020's The Show (directed by Mitch Jenkins). He also played actor/writer/director Orson Welles in 2020's Mank (directed by David Fincher).
Furiosa will star Anya Taylor-Joy as Imperator Furiosa. The character was first introduced in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, and was portrayed in that film by Charlize Theron. Furiosa is described as a prequel movie that will tell the character's origin story. Chris Hemsworth has also been cast in the film. Miller, who has directed every installment in the Mad Max series since it began in 1979 (including co-directing 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with George Ogilvie), will be co-writing and producing Furiosa through his Kennedy Miller Mitchell banner.
Outside of the Mad Max franchise, Miller's previous directing works include 1998's Babe: Pig in the City, 2006's Happy Feet, and its 2011 sequel Happy Feet Two. For 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller was nominated for best director at the Academy Awards. When previously talking about the film, Miller said that he "didn't set out to make a big epic movie" and that it would look at the Imperator Furiosa character through several years. Miller's longtime producing partner Doug Mitchell will also be a producer on the film.
Furiosa is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. on May 27, 2024. Miller's next film will be Three Thousand Years of Longing starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, which has not yet announced an official release date.