Daily Times

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”, the latest instalment of the post-apocalyptic franchise, will get its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, organisers said Thursday.

The fifth film in the series stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa — a character played by Charlize Theron in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road”, which also premiered at Cannes in 2015.

She stars alongside Chris Hemsworth as the villain, Warlord Dementus, as Furiosa battles hostile gangs to make her way home.

The latest entry, which is playing out-of-competition at Cannes, is again directed by the franchise’s creator, Australia’s George Miller. It all began with an ultra-low-budget action film in 1979 that also launched the career of Mel Gibson, about a near-future Australia facing societal collapse and oil shortages.

There were two sequels starring Gibson in the 1980s, before the franchise returned in 2015 with “Fury Road”, a critically lauded blast of pure spectacle starring Tom Hardy that won six Academy Awards.

Miller has had a very varied career, directing children’s hits like “Babe” and “Happy Feet”, as well as the mythological tale “Three Thousand Years of Longing”, which debuted at Cannes in 2022.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 to 25, with Greta Gerwig as the head of its jury. The full line-up is due to be announced on April 11.