The eagerly anticipated action adventure Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is set to premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival.

The director George Miller has returned to the world of his Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road with a prequel exploring the origins of Furiosa, a character previously played by Charlize Theron. The prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy in the role with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke also starring.

“The idea of this prequel has been with me for over a decade,” said Miller in a statement. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to return to the Festival de Cannes – along with Anya, Chris and Tom [Burke] – to share Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. There is no better place than La Croisette to experience this film with audiences on the world stage.”

In 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road also premiered at the festival and went on to win six Oscars and make $380m worldwide. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called it “extravagantly deranged, ear-splittingly cacophonous, and entirely over the top” in his review.

Since then Miller also premiered Three Thousand Years of Longing at the festival. The fantasy drama starred Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba.

When asked about Taylor-Joy taking on the role, Theron called her “one of the greatest fucking actresses”.

“It’s the dirtiest and the bloodiest I have ever been, which is saying something, genuinely saying something,” Taylor-Joy has said of the shoot.

The actor, whose roles include The Queen’s Gambit, The Witch and The Menu, will also be seen next in Apple’s action romance The Gorge alongside Miles Teller.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will screen out of competition at the festival, shortly before its theatrical release. The full line-up will be officially announced next month but speculation suggests new films from Jacques Audiard, Andrea Arnold and Francis Ford Coppola may be included. This year’s jury will be led by Greta Gerwig.

• This article was amended on 21 March 2024. A previous version referred to Tom Hardy rather than Tom Burke.