Furiosa: Why One 15-Minute Action Scene Took 78 Days To Film

The set of Furiosa proved to be a resilient one as a single action sequence took 78 days to film. The prequel to George Miller’s acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road will star Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular character and Chris Hemsworth as Dementus. The film will center around Furiosa, who is snatched from her home, the Green Place of Many Mothers, captured by a biker horde led by Hemsworth’s Dementus. She’ll have to find her way back home while being caught in the crossfire between two tyrants, Dementus and Immortan Joe (played by Lachy Hulme).

In an interview with Total Film, Miller’s producing partner Doug Mitchell reveals that one 15-minute action sequence took close to 200 stunt people daily and 78 days to shoot. The sequence became known during production as the “Stairway to Nowhere.” Star Taylor-Joy says that she had big conversations with Miller, discussing why the particular set piece is important and so long, with the co-writer/director citing it as an “accumulation” of the titular character’s skills. Check out Taylor-Joy’s explanation below:

George and I would have these big conversations about why this particular set-piece was so long. It’s because you see an accumulation of skills over the course of a battle, and that’s very important for understanding how resourceful Furiosa is, but also her grit. It’s the longest sequence any of us have ever shot. On the day we finished, everybody got a “Stairway To Nowhere” wine!

Furiosa’s Set Almost Sounds As Tough As Mad Max: Fury Road’s

Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa Is Shaping Up To Be A Great Character

This particular set story evokes the feeling that Furiosa was hard to shoot. Predominantly shot in the deserts of Australia, the set’s grueling atmosphere must have proved to be an obstacle. Coupled with the task of having to shoot a single sequence involving 200 stunt people for 78 days, the result on set must not have looked pretty. Though it seems that the cast and crew prevailed without any screaming matches and hatred between the cast, something that unfortunately can’t be said for Mad Max: Fury Road’s Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy.

Tayloy-Joy’s Furiosa is shaping up to be a textbook, strong female character. This notion had already been established with Theron’s version of the character, but, after hearing the hoops the actor jumped through to get the job done, the younger Furiosa is highly anticipated. This excitement mixed with the near-decade-long wait for another Mad Max movie since Fury Road has instilled hopes the prequel will be a hit at the box office.

The teased action sequence and the story behind it only amps up the hype, as it sounds like Miller and his team planned out the character as meticulously as the set pieces. The sheer involvement of the set piece, 200 stunt people, already suggests that the action sequences of the film could be as epic as Mad Max: Fury Road’s. With Miller also having envisioned and developed Furiosa well before its predecessor, it’s clear he’s just as passionate about it matching the scale of Fury Road.

Mad Max: Fury Road is available to stream on Max.

Source: Total Film