Anya Taylor-Joy’s next movie, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, is only a few short weeks away from being released, but a box office bomb from 2021 that stars the actress is the perfect thing to watch in the meantime. In recent years, the British-American star has become one of the most in-demand performers in Hollywood, with almost all of Anya Taylor-Joy’s movies going on to be critical or commercial successes or, in some cases, both. An underrated Taylor-Joy movie from 3 years ago, however, is just the thing to watch ahead of her starring role in Furiosa.
A prequel to 2015’s Mad Mad: Fury Road, Furiosa will tell the origin story of the character of the same name, who was previously played by Charlize Theron. The movie marks Anya Taylor-Joy’s first proper action movie and The Furiosa trailer depicts her wielding large guns and sporting a shaven head, in a departure from the actress’s other film roles. Despite her career still being relatively young, Taylor-Joy has appeared in many movies across several different genres. A horror film from 2021 that stars Taylor-Joy in a main role is precisely the thing to watch in preparation for Furiosa.
Furiosa could end up being Anya Taylor-Joy’s most successful movie yet, and she’ll have Edgar Wright to thank for it. The acclaimed British filmmaker cast Taylor-joy in his 2021 psychological horror, Last Night in Soho, in which she played an aspiring singer named Sandie in the swinging sixties opposite Thomasin McKenzie and Matt Smith. Taylor-Joy’s performance in the film attracted the attention of Furiosa director George Miller, who cast her in the lead role of his movie. Speaking at CinemaCon 2024, Miller said:
Miller then went on to say Taylor-Joy possessed a mystical quality. Despite garnering mostly positive reviews from critics, Last Night in Soho proved to be a box office bomb after it only managed to make just under $23 million on a $43 million budget (via The Numbers). This is a shame because, like Wright’s previous films, Last Night in Soho displays a wealth of interesting ideas, as well as a gorgeous aesthetic. It also acts as a good showcase of its main cast’s talents, particularly Taylor-Joy, who gives a committed performance as the tortured and ghostly character of Sandie.
Putting aside her voice role in 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as well as her single-scene cameo in Dune: Part Two, Furiosa will be Taylor-Joy’s biggest movie to date. The action film has an estimated budget of $230 million, but it could go to make way more than that at the worldwide box office. It’s also the star’s biggest movie in terms of scale. Taylor-Joy’s big screen career until now has been mostly made up of low to mid-budget dramas that are relatively small in scale. Furiosa, with its elaborate action sequences and vast desert setting, will change that.
Additionally, Furiosa represents the next step in Taylor-Joy’s journey to becoming a megastar. She’s already a well-known face on both the big and small screen, thanks to her already impressive filmography. However, Furiosa could catapult Taylor-Joy from a popular leading lady to a full-blown movie star in the way that the Dune films did the same thing for both Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. Whether Furiosa will be a success is yet to be determined, but one thing’s for certain; once the movie hits cinemas, Anya Taylor-Joy’s career won’t be the same again.