Mad Max: Fury Road began production on July 9 and it’s taken our friends at Warner Bros. this long to make an official announcement. Nevertheless, this is one of those franchise revivals that really excites me. It’s hard not to look at those set photos and get all jazzed about car violence ala The Roadwarrior. You can read the full press release over at Coming Soon, but I cherry picked some delicious plot nuggets for you:

“Mad Max: Fury Road”–the fourth in the franchise’s history–stars Tom Hardy (“The Dark Knight Rises”) in the title role of Max Rockatansky, alongside Oscar(R) winner Charlize Theron (“Monster”, “Prometheus”) as Imperator Furiosa.

According to Miller, “Mad Max is caught up with a group of people fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by the Imperator Furiosa. This movie is an account of the Road War which follows. It is based on the Word Burgers of the History Men and eyewitness accounts of those who survived.”

The Road War? War Rig? Word Burgers?! This all sounds delightfully batshit, hopefully Miller’s forgoing everything he learned making Happy Feet and embracing his stripped down style of old. I would wholeheartedly welcome the advancement of practical techniques Miller employed making the Mad Max series. Hopefully, and judging from early impressions, that’s exactly what we’re getting. Great action doesn’t always need to be bathed in CG. Just seeing actual cars, and not overwrought Bay-gasm cartoons, is highly reassuring.

Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy in the titular role made famous by Mel Gibson. It’s currently on track for release some time in 2013.

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