Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton cast as leads in Mad Max director George Miller's next Three Thousand Years of Longing

Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton have been cast as the leads in George Miller’s next Three Thousand Years of Longing.

According to Variety , the 73-year-old director has written the script for the project, which is said to be in early development.

The Mad Max: Fury Road director will also produce the feature alongside Doug Mitchell. The fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise, that began in 1979 with Mel Gibson in the lead role, saw a post-apocalypse dystopian Australia where police officer Max Rockatansky battled hardened criminals of the outback. Tom Hardy picked up the mantle of Max from Gibson with Charlize Theron playing Imperator Furiosa, a character who lead a slew of female actresses in the film franchise that was previously male-dominated.

Elba, 46, is currently shooting for Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, also featuring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Vanessa Kirby. He is also in final negotiations to join the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats from director Tom Hooper. The star-studded movie, also starring Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Taylor Swift and Judi Dench, marks Elba’s second feline role following his take on Shere Khan in 2016’s The Jungle Book.

Swinton, 57, is awaiting the wide release of Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria alongside Dakota Johnson.She is also set to feature in Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming zombie comedy film The Dead Don’t Die, alongside Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi and Chloe Sevigny.

(With inputs from agencies)