The Australian reports that there has been a second major delay to George Miller’s planned Mad Max: Fury Road, one that would see the project not start shooting until sometime in 2012:  Key crew were told this week not to expect to return for
pre-production until August or November next year. Production is now
anticipated to begin in the Broken Hill region in February 2012.  The
film had already been delayed. In July, Kennedy Miller Productions said
unseasonal rains had made the Broken Hill area too fertile and
production was put back to later this year. 

This comes on the heels of Australia becoming more and more involved in an ongoing New Zealand labor dispute over the planned shooting of The Hobbit, which has reportedly irked Peter Jackson.  Concerns over the high Australian dollar and a growing budget, which will see a high number of both cars and stunts, are also feeding into the issue.  The delay has also reportedly left hundreds of Australian film workers out of work.

I certainly wouldn’t mind another excursion or two or three into Miller’s post-apocalyptic world, but there have been so many delays, false starts and previous “Will Gibson, won’t Gibson?” that I haven’t really taken much Mad Max news at face value.  There have been reports of Miller doing a 3D animated film, then two films back to back, Tom Hardy is Max, Charlize Theron might have a role, and on and on.  So it looks like Mad Max fans will just have to hang in there a bit (indefinitely?) longer.  I mean, it’s only been 25 years or so…

Thanks to Abbot and Prospero for the tip.