The Will Smith Box Office Bomb That Changed How Director George Miller Approached Furiosa

Imperator Furiosa is, in my humble opinion, one of the most important characters to hit the big screen in the last 20 years. She represents a justified rage often denied to women in post-apocalyptic films, a physical capability typically reserved for men who have been shaved down from slabs of meat on a GyroKone, and serves as a protector of the five wives — a woman looking after other women who are treated as little more than a form of currency. When "Mad Max: Fury Road" director George Miller expressed a desire to make a standalone epic prequel focusing on Furiosa, fans were thrilled at the prospect. Charlize Theron beautifully brought Furiosa to life, so it was only natural that she'd be brought back for the film.

During a special screening of "Furiosa" and a press event with Miller at IMAX Headquarters, he explained that replacing Theron was a matter of logistics. "My intention was that we do it, we do it next [with Theron]," he says. "But then we've now gone through the third parent company of Warner Bros. — there's about four different regimes. That settled down by the time we got to actually do 'Furiosa,' but the best part of a decade had gone by."

"Furiosa" is a prequel film, which meant that Theron, who is now 48 years old, would be required to play her character as two decades younger. Initially, Miller thought about still using Theron and employing technology to de-age her, but two films made him change his mind. "I thought, 'Okay, we could still do it with Charlize.' Then I saw these other movies like 'The Irishman,' where they made people younger, and particularly I saw 'Gemini Man.' I was looking at the technology; I wasn't looking at performance. I thought, 'We can't do it.'"