There seems to be A LOT of confusion on the ‘net (particularly among Chewers) about what in the word is going on with Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth installment in George Miller’s post-apocalyptic action saga. That’s not surprising, given the sheer amount of problems that the project has had to overcome on its way to theaters. It initially almost happened back in the late ’90s. Mel Gibson as still on-board to return at that point and it was months away from happening when disaster struck. Turmoil in the region it was scheduled to shoot (somewhere in Africa, I believe) halted the production and both Miller and Gibson moved on to other things. All seemed lost.
Cut to a few years ago when George starting tooting the horn again after he made Happy Feet. He announced that he would not be making one new Mad Max film, but three! The idea was to do Fury Road first and then follow it up with a Happy Feet sequel before moving on to the fifth entry. Obviously that didn’t happen. Financing problems arose and Happy Feet Two become the priority. Once Miller got the money figured out, he was set to shoot the film in late 2010/early 2011 out in the desert of his home country of Australia. To his horror, the region he had selected was hit with the largest amount of recorded rain in decades. His wonderful desert locations were turned into water and green-filled landscapes! Bummer.
Miller didn’t give up though. Pre-production continued on the film and the special vehicles for the project were all completed on time. Hell, they’ve been sitting in the new location (Namibia) for months now awaiting the start of production! Tom Hardy came on board to play ‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron signed up to co-star. That’s right people, this is a full-blown stand alone sequel to the original three films. Hardy is playing Mad Max himself…not some bastard child or a character who has taken on the mantle…and the film will pick up a few years after the events of Beyond Thunderdome.
What of the rest of the cast? Details are still sketchy at this point. We know that Hardy and Theron are both still on board, with the former seemingly ecstatic about the project whenever he’s actually asked about it. Teresa Palmer, Nicholas Holt, Zoe Kravitz, Adelaide Clemens, Richard Norton, and Hugh Keays-Byrne* were all previously attached when it was scheduled to shoot a little over a year ago. Palmer has since dropped out, but no word has been given about the rest. I’m assuming most (if not all) are still on board, but there’s really no way of knowing until some more concrete information about the cast slips out.
Back on Monday it was announced that supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw will be making her acting debut in the film. Some speculate that she may be replacing Palmer. Whatever her role may be, apparently she will be locked in a cage for a portion of the film. That sounds entirely likely, given the previous entries.
The $130 million production starts shooting in Namibia sometime in May. According to Miller, virtually all of the stunts (both physical and most importantly, vehicular) will be done practically. The script was penned by Miller and British comic writer Brendan McCarthy, who also designed many of the vehicles and costumes for the project. Rumors arose last year that they might actually be shooting the first two installments in the new trilogy back-to-back and that the title of the second would be Mad Max: Furiosa. Given the size of the budget and the fact that Tom Hardy isn’t locked down to star in anything after Fury Road just yet (aside from press detail on TDKR), it DOES seem like a definite possibility. Someone is just going to have to sack up and ask Hardy about it while he’s doing Batman PR this summer if we haven’t already found out by then.
So there you have it. Mad Max: Fury Road is finally happening and, by all accounts, should hit theaters sometime in 2014. It is intended as the first in a new trilogy of Mad Max sequels from George Miller and we might just be getting the second installment shortly after. God willing, hopefully Miller will be able to make all three.
Are you excited that a new installment in this franchise is finally happening? Or should it have ended with the last entry? Give us your opinion in the comments section below and on the forums.
Source | Dark Horizons
* Yep, the dude who played Toecutter, the villain in the original film. And no, he won’t be reprising that role if he is still on board.
16 comments
But we still don’t know about the most important bit of casting: will Bruce Spence be appearing int this one, too?
I’m really pleased it’s happening. I watched Thunderdome the other day for the first time in years. Tonally, it’s very confused. Parts of it feel like a lost Spielberg kids movie. Hardly anyone gets killed, there’s no nudity and it has a tribe of feral children. But then it throws in an F-bomb and has the main character agree to kill someone for money, before even asking who or why. Also parts of the plot makes no sense. After rescuing the kids from the quicksand Max tells them that Bartertown is their only hope. But as soon as they get there, they’re desperate to escape. And where did the train come from? The line doesn’t go anywhere. I like a lot of the film but for a Mad Max film it feels pretty soft. Also, why are there two directors? Anyone know the story on that?
It does have the best vehicle in any Max film though. The car covered in cow hide. I want that.
Thanks to Wikipedia:
“George Miller, director of the first two Mad Max movies, lost interest in the project after his friend and producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash while location scouting. Miller later agreed to direct the action sequences, with George Ogilvie directing the rest of the film. There is a title card at the end that says, “…For Byron”.”
dont care one way or the other, i just want the trilogy in a blu-ray box set and ill be fine
Brendan McCarthy = Awesome. He totally owns the Mad Max Junk Chic aesthetic and he’s been a major cheerleader for this for decades. Fantastic conceptual (and comics) artist that’s unfortunately really only worked on movie projects well below his abilities.
Heard an interview with Australian Singer Missy Higgins today that she’d been cast a few years ago but her part had been written out during the post-greening of Broken Hill downtime script revisions. So Miller is constantly reworking this – I guess to suit each new production environment?
Re: 2 Directors on MM3
George #2 was brought in specifically to direct the kids. Bartertown and Master Blaster are still really strong concepts, suffering a little from the mid-80s MTV aesthetic that crept in. Hoping they go a bit old school MM/MM2 with these new ones.
I just don’t see this working – Gibson IS Max. In terms of actors being paired up with iconic roles, Gibson as Max Rockatansky ranks up there with Arnold as the Terminator or Stallone as Balboa/Rambo.
I like Tom Hardy, but as a child of the 80’s who grew up watching the first two films, seeing somebody else as Max just isn’t going to work. Now, Gibson returning to the role as an older, burned out Max, I’d be there on opening day (even if Gibson is an insane asshole).
Bring back Mel Gibson for one last hurrah. I’d rather see a fourth film that brought Max’s story to a conclusive end than yet another hollow attempt to “reboot” an ’80’s icon.
Mad Max has been gone long enough for me to give Miller and team a clean slate- as long as the action is there, I’m there. Road Warrior holds up incredibly well (MM3:BTD not so much, as Dr.Cod points out). And Hardy deserves a franchise, though he still hasn’t quite done enough penance to make up for Star Trek: Nemesis….
I think I’m okay with Gibson being replaced. I’ve always liked him as Max, but in my mind he’s never had the same solid character/actor connection I see with, say… Indy/Ford, Willis/McClane or even Gibson/Riggs.
Max is your basic taciturn anti-hero, and I’d be interested to see what someone else can bring to the role. For me, Miller is the requirement. The franchise is his, not Gibson’s.
I want to see that pre production art in the worst way! I love Brendans work, I just wish there was more of it. I had heard he was designing this in the 90s but did not know he was still on it, and writing no less. Check out Freak Wave if you can find it. Post apokalypse in the oceans (WAY before Waterworld) I hope we see some characters like Mickey Death.
Road Warrior was one of my very favorite films when it came out and remains so to this day.
I am so exited for this project
Here is some of the first Freakwave. Check the last panel
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1272510.html
Mad Max without Gibson will suffer a Dumb and Dumberer fate.
Gibbo as an old even more bad-tempered Max would have been infinitely more interesting than what they are doing.
Won’t happen. MGM owns the first film and Warner Bros. owns the other two.
You can lay the blame for that solely at Gibson’s feet. He doesn’t want to do it.
Yep – I’m the very proud owner of those older works.
That link seems to have an extra space on the end – here’s a fix:
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1272510.html
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