by Gill Pringle at CinemaCon, Las Vegas
Kicking off the first night of CinemaCon, Warner Bros opened their first-look slate with footage from George Miller’s highly anticipated Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
A prequel of sorts to Mad Max: Fury Road – Anya Taylor-Joy plays a younger version of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa opposite Hemsworth’s Dr Dementus, a deranged dictator, as evil as he is charismatic.
Hemsworth was weaned on Mel Gibson’s Mad Max in George Miller’s classic 1979 film, so the opportunity to be a part of this fifth installment was irresistible.
“I grew up watching Mad Max films – being Australian. And having watched the films over and over with my dad, in particular, and talked about all the motorbike sequences and so on… And so, George Miller was this godlike figure in not just the film world, but in my household, when we were talking about anything from the wasteland or this sort of space,” he says.
“And I think what is so wonderful about what George does, and unique, is to take control of the organised chaos that you see in this space. I’ve never been on a set that felt both intimidating, horrifying, loud, noisy, exhausting, and then completely safe and in control. And that’s this perfect balance. I think that what George has is this huge amount of grace and kindness and humility, and in collaboration with every single individual, and the best idea wins. But at the same time, he has all the confidence in the world to say: ‘this is the direction we’re moving in’. And everyone follows. And so, it was a dream come true,” he adds.
In describing how he managed to find the right amount of charm, menace and insanity to portray Dementus, he says: “This was an individual who was a twisted cruel character on one hand, but in order for him to lead this horde of bikers and then this tribe of nomadic individuals across the wasteland and inspire them, then there needed to be an element of charisma.
“And so, we wanted to interweave layers of charm and wit and humour, but there’d be a spontaneity and a darkness to it too. We talked about dictators through history, who were able to appear omnipresent or ethereal or godlike. And that was a lot of what his motivation was, I think in his presentation – the way he moved, the way he dressed, the way he spoke was about manipulation, but also gathering hordes and groups of people and saying: ‘I know what your problems are, and I have the answers to them’. I think the way that he was able to disarm people and have to earn their trust was through a twisted sort of sense of humour. Take them along for a ride,” Hemsworth told the crowds at CinemaCon on Monday night.
Returning to the CinemaCon stage again in a very different setting, Hemsworth introduced audiences to a sneak peek of Paramount’s 3D animated Transformers One.
As the voice of Optimus Prime, he is joined by Scarlett Johansson’s Elite, Brian Tyree Henry’s Megatron, Jon Hamm’s Sentinel Prime, Laurence Fishburne’s Alpha Trion and Keegan-Michael Key’s Bumblebee.
Talking about the Transformers legacy, Hemsworth says: “Peter Cullen, who you know as the voice of Optimus Prime, has inspired generations with his ionic portrayal of the character for 40 years. Through his embodiment of Optimus, Peter teaches us that inseparable from heroes and strength, are gentleness and compassion.
“I’m honoured to share with Peter a piece of this character’s history. In Transformers One, I play a young Optimus Prime and I couldn’t be more excited to reveal a side of his character that audiences haven’t seen before,” he said of this origin story set on Cybertron, directed by Josh Cooley who helmed Toy Story 4.
But Hemsworth and George Miller weren’t the only Australians celebrated at this year’s CinemaCon.
Fans were treated to several films showcasing powerhouse Aussie talent, including Sam Worthington – starring opposite Sienna Miller in Kevin Costner’s four-part western epic, Horizon: An American Saga. The first two films will be released in June and August of this year, with Worthington saddling up opposite Costner.
Then we learned about Toni Collette’s intriguing role playing the wife of Mark Ruffalo’s dictator in Bong Joon Ho’s thrilling sci-fi Mickey 17.
The eponymous Mickey is portrayed by Robert Pattinson, a clone with nothing much to live for.
And – in an unlikely career move – Cate Blanchett stars in Eli Roth’s action adventure comedy Borderlands.
Based on the best-selling videogame, Blanchett heads an all-star cast on a romp which follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the keys to unimaginable power.
Talking about securing the Oscar-winning actress to portray Lilith, Roth told audiences: “With some movies, you’re just like pushing this boulder up the hill and there’s nothing you can do. And in this one, I said, ‘What if I asked Cate?’ And she says, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it’. And I said: ‘People love seeing you with the conductor stick, but I’m going to put a flame thrower in your hands…’ And she says, ‘Oh, I wanna do that’,” says Roth describing to the audience how Blanchett told him Escape from New York was her all-time favourite film.
“And that’s part of the fun with Cate – and she learned how to twirl guns and shoot. And once you have Cate – then all the other actors, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis are all nerding out over Prom Night and Terror Train. And then we have this incredible discovery of the century, Ariana Greenblatt,” adds Roth who cast the 16-year-old rising star as Tiny Tina.
Adding to the Australian dominance, audiences were shown a creepy first trailer for Leigh Whannell’s werewolf flick Wolf Man – starring Ozark’s Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott – scheduled for release in January 2025, following up on his success with The Invisible Man.
Mark Wahlberg appeared via a live satellite link from Australia where Mel Gibson is directing him in the thriller Flight Risk.
And, finally, celebrating Australia’s iconic musical trio, Ridley Scott will direct an untitled Bee Gees biopic produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.
