Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa and The Color Purple musical will hit theaters in 2023

We haven't gotten out of the mess that is 2020 yet, but Warner Bros. Pictures is already eyeing 2023 theatrical releases for Furiosa, The Color Purple musical, and Coyote vs. Acme, the company announced Wednesday. All three have received the greenlight to head into pre-production.

Out first will be Furiosa, George Miller's prequel to his 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road, which is slated for June 23, 2023. As previously reported, The Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy will play a younger version of Charlize Theron's character, opposite Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

The live-action/animation hybrid Coyote vs. Acme will follow a month after on July 21, 2023. From director Dave Green (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) and Warner Animation Group, it will feature the long-standing rivalry between the Roadrunner nemesis and his preferred mail order supplier. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn will co-write the screenplay, based on the fictional New Yorker article of the same title by Ian Frazier.

The Color Purple musical feature will arrive in theaters globally on Dec. 20, 2023. It will be directed by Blitz Bazawule (Black is King) and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones. Marcus Gardley (The Chi) is penning the script, with a score including music and lyrics from the 2005 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical (which was revived in 2015 starring Cynthia Erivo). The upcoming film is based on that production, the 1985 feature starring Winfrey and helmed by Spielberg, and the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker, who is among the executive producers.

This news comes after Warner Bros. recently announced that Wonder Woman 1984 plus their entire 2021 film slate will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, affecting the releases of 17 films. Among those include The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Godzilla vs. Kong, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Dune, and Matrix 4.

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