A series about a chess player is currently the number one show on Netflix right now. If that sounds completely unbelievable and uninteresting, you haven’t seen The Queen’s Gambit yet.
The Netflix series is the story of a young orphan named Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who fights through alcohol and drug addiction to strive to be the world’s greatest chess player in ’50s and ’60s America.
The show has not even been around a month and already it has taken the stay-at-home quarantined world by storm. The Queen’s Gambit has spent so long in Netflix’s number one spot that it is priming itself to set some records. Forbes went as far as to call the series “one of Netflix’s most popular shows ever.”
But wait, what does this have to do with post-apocalyptic media, you might ask.
It’s simple! The breakaway star of the show is Anya Taylor-Joy who will be playing the part of a young Furiosa in the next installment of George Miller’s Mad Max movies.
Just in case you haven’t yet, let this be the hundredth tweet to tell you to go watch queens gambit a BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING pic.twitter.com/2CDOnlAtrw
— Greyson Gilmer (@Goldenglue) November 15, 2020
When originally cast for the part, Taylor-Joy was relatively unknown, but The Queen’s Gambit is sending that Mad Max stock through the roof right now. We can only hope that this lead-up pitch will be exactly what the Furiosa film needs to hit a grand slam when it releases.
This next Mad Max film with Taylor-Joy is said to be a prequel that will act as an origin story for the Furiosa character that was first made popular by Charlize Theron in Fury Road. Miller originally tossed around the idea of de-aging Theron with CGI for the role, but decided to use Taylor-Joy instead, as the part calls for a 20-something Furiosa.
Just finished the queens gambit, can’t talk right now, ordering a chess board. Brilliant watch ! 👌🏻👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/Rtbl7zTVNM
— Gaz (@MichaelsCoDub) November 13, 2020
“I fell in love with Furiosa because of the way Charlize presented her,” Taylor-Joy said in an interview on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. “She did such an incredible job. It was so beautiful. I can’t even think about trying to step into her shoes. It has to be something different because it just can’t be done.”
Aside from the new Mad Max film, Taylor-Joy has been extremely busy with several other movies and TV shows this year including The New Mutants, Here Are the Young Men, and Last Night in Soho. On top that that, she’s set to star in a few upcoming projects, including The Northman, Weetzie Bat, and The Sea Change.
The Furiosa prequel will also star Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
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