Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has left Mad Max spin-off Furiosa due to scheduling conflicts and his role has been taken over by Tom Burke, Deadline reports.
It hasn't been confirmed which movie Adbul-Mateen is exiting over, but it's a secret passion project that has been in the works for some time, according to Deadline. He can next be seen portraying Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections, which releases next month.
Furiosa will star Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character alongside Chris Hemsworth in an undisclosed role, while Mad Max helmer George Miller is directing, producing, and co-writing the screenplay.
Furiosa was portrayed by Charlize Theron in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road – she is a war captain under antagonist Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) but turns against him to free his five wives (played by Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton) and joins forces with Max (Tom Hardy). The new movie will explore her origins.
Burke recently played Orson Welles in Mank, the Netflix movie from David Fincher about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. He's also appeared in The Souvenir and The Souvenir Part 2 alongside Tilda Swinton and Honor Swinton Byrne, but Furiosa will be his first role in a blockbuster. The role that he – and Abdul-Mateen before him – will be playing hasn't been confirmed yet, though.
We've still got a while to wait before we find out, too – Furiosa is set to release on May 24, 2024. In the meantime, you can check out our list of the other exciting movie release dates that should be on your radar.
