It's been seven years since the release of Mad Max: Fury Road, and director George Miller is now 77 years old. However, based on the brand new trailer for Three Thousand Years of Longing, the man is still making contributions to the world of upcoming movies with the energy of a 20-year-old. It's basically a stream of mind-blowing images, and the full thing can't get here soon enough.
Based on the short story The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt, Three Thousand Years of Longing stars Tilda Swinton as Dr. Alithea Binnie – an academic attending a conference in Istanbul when she has a fantastical encounter. She meets a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers to grant her three wishes, and in order to prove his legitimacy, the magical being tells her stories of his past. Both in look and in feel, Elba's character is way different from the beloved style of the genie from Aladdin that audiences are used to.
Tilda Swinton’s character asks the question, “What does one do with three wishes?” Answering that question is where George Miller’s trademark for crazy energy and colorful worlds comes into play, as we see glimpses of those stories in Three Thousand Years of Longing’s trailer. Everything from Idris Elba’s dust-filled transformation into his Djinn form to a rather curious looking spider creature is thrown at the audience in quick succession.
We’re also treated to extreme visions of every excess you could think of. Sex, death and revenge all look ready to unfold in Three Thousand Years of Longing; and a little bit of mayhem looks to be in store for Idris Elba as well. One accidental sentence with the word “wish” included in its contents is all Tilda Swinton has to do in order to complicate things. For someone so careful about wishes, Dr. Alithea Binnie isn’t immune to the most rookie mistake in dealing with wish-making entities.
If you hadn’t remembered that Miller was also the madman behind the Mad Max series, the sights seen here should prove to be an easy reminder. George Miller isn’t slowing down any time soon, as the Furiosa prequel is on deck to start production in the near future. Should his latest film be any indication, Miller will indeed be running at full speed in the years to come; although there will be some differences between this new chapter and Fury Road.
It’s a beautiful, mind-blowing thing to see in action, and soon enough audiences will get their chance to partake in the full madness that is this picture. The trailer for Three Thousand Years of Longing has officially debuted thanks to the film hosting its world premiere today at the Cannes Film Festival, but cinephiles here in the United States will have to wait a while to see it. (Unlike fellow Cannes star Top Gun: Maverick, which is headed to theaters only a week after Tom Cruise's recent standing ovation.)
Three Thousand Years of Longing will close out summer and begin the fall season when it hits theaters on August 31 (exclusively in theaters). In the meantime, if you’re looking to see what upcoming Idris Elba movies are on the way, you don’t need to make a magical request to gain that knowledge. Just be careful to choose your wishes as carefully as you would your future trips to the movies.
