Mad Max: Furiosa: Charlize Theron says prequel script is ready to go, would 'love to' return to franchise

'But at the end of the day, this thing lives and breathes with George [Miller]'

Mad Max: Fury Road - Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron

Whereas most films caught in development hell for over a decade end up dead on arrival, Max Mad: Fury Road bucked the trend, becoming an Oscar-winning triumph.

Critics and fans rapturously received the film, wondering when George Miller would begin work on a sequel.

During interviews, the acclaimed director — who has helmed every Mad Max film to date, along with both Happy Feet instalments — revealed three scripts were written.

One of those was revealed to centre around Charlize Theron’s character Furiosa, and would act as a prequel to Fury Road.

Speaking to Variety, Theron confirmed the scripts were finished and she wants to return to the series: “I’d love to,” the actor said. “There were three scripts. They were written as back stories to Max’s character and to Furiosa’s character.

“But at the end of the day, this thing lives and breathes with George [Miller]. I think Warner Bros. knows that. We are all waiting for him to show us the way.”

Theron explained how the character almost looked completely different, Miller originally wanting Furiosa to have bleached blonde hair and ghostly white skin, the duo also experimenting with African war paint.

“I had just finished a big press tour [for Snow White and the Huntsman],” Theron said. “I’d come home — I was just so done with hair and makeup. The idea of going into a desert for 140 days, and having to do hair and makeup every single day.

“I was so excited about diving into this character, I didn’t want anything to hold me back from that. It think it came from that — just pure exhaustion from hair and makeup. How do I eliminate everything I possibly can and get straight to the business at hand?”

Miller’s last update on a possible sequel came from an interview with The Independent, the director discussing a sequel, tentatively titled Mad Max: The Wasteland.

“Somewhere, if the planets align, there will be two other films,” he said, conceding he would make something “quick and small just to reboot the brain” before work begins.