Anya Taylor-Joy poses for photographers as she arrives at the premiere of the film ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ at the 77th International Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Carré/Invision/AP) Photo Credit: Vianney Le Carré

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” joined the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, returning George Miller’s dystopia-on-wheels to the French Riviera festival and giving Anya Taylor-Joy a fairy tale moment on the Cannes red carpet .

Taylor-Joy, making her Cannes debut, brought classical movie-star glamor to one of the festival’s most anticipated premieres. Wearing a cream-colored custom Dior gown, Taylor-Joy posed playfully for photographers as she strolled through the Palais des Festivals and gave a mock salute to her director.

The latest “Mad Max” film, starring Chris Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy as a young Furiosa, premiered in Cannes nearly nine years after “Mad Max: Fury Road” screened at the French festival.

Miller, who has served on the Cannes jury several times, also had his “Three Thousand Years of Longing” premiered here in 2022.

“It’s a big deal to be showing it in that cinema with almost 2,000 people with great sound and screening. It really is a kind of optimal cinema,” Miller said ahead of the premiere. “The moment they said, ‘Okay, we’re happy to show this film here,’ I jumped right in.” For Taylor-Joy, 28, “Furiosa” at Cannes was a full-circle moment. She first came to the festival in 2017 to receive the Chopard Trophy as an emerging actor. It was performed by the original Furiosa, Charlize Theron, star of “Fury Road”.

While this year’s Cannes features several major upcoming premieres, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” with Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” the debut of “Furiosa” is easily the festival’s biggest MW Hollywood. There was a program. Among the attendees were jury chief Greta Gerwig, Eva Green, Naomi Campbell and Baz Luhrmann.

‘Furiosa’ will be released in North American theaters on May 24. (AP)