Three Thousand Years of Longing, George Miller's next film after Mad Max: Fury Road, stars Tilda Swinton as a woman in an Istanbul hotel room and Idris Elba as the genie who grants her three wishes in exchange for freedom.
Miller is one of the most influential movie directors of his generation, with a film resume including every Mad Max film as well as the Susan Sarandon film Lorenzo's Oil and the Babe and Happy Feet film franchises. His most recent film, Mad Max: Fury Road, was a commercial and critical success, grossing over $150 million dollars at the domestic box office and winning six Academy Awards. George Miller is currently filming Furiosa, a prequel to Fury Road starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of the titular character, which is currently set to release in 2024.
The first-look footage from MGM reveals Three Thousand Years of Longing's special effects and fantasy setting. The footage also reveals a first look at the film's other cast members, including Aamito Lagum as the Queen of Sheba. Fans of Mad Max: Fury Road are sure to recognize Miller's energetic filmmaking style from the footage. Three Thousand Years of Longing is set to premiere out-of-competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and the first-look footage comes from a trailer that premieres on May 20th.
Three Thousand Years of Longing isn't the only high-profile feature film screening at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Top Gun: Maverick is screening out-of-competition. Top Gun: Maverick garnered enthusiastic reviews after its premiere at CinemaCon, with the film releasing on Memorial Day. In addition, the Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic, Elvis, will premiere out-of-competition, and Men, Alex Garland's latest horror film, will also screen at the festival.
Following Amazon's purchase of MGM, Amazon has begun reworking the release plans of upcoming MGM films. Ron Howard's Thai cave rescue film Thirteen Lives, which was originally slated for a wide theatrical release on November 18th, 2022, has been moved to a hybrid release where the film will open in a limited amount of theaters in August before releasing on Amazon Prime. Amazon has not announced a similar change for Three Thousand Years of Longing's release plan at this time.
Time will tell if Miller's latest film gets an enthusiastic reception from Cannes, but Three Thousand Years of Longing can rest easy knowing there's nothing else like it on the market right now. Here's looking forward to the release of the full trailer this Friday.
Three Thousand Years of Longing comes to theaters on August 31st, 2022.
Source: MGM | YouTube