Mad Max 4 / Fury Road - News and Rumours
Mad Max 4 is definitely planned. It was originally in pre-production in 2003, with both George Miller and Mel Gibson signed on. The project was postponed in early 2003 due to the Iraq war (filming was to have been in Namibia), and production has not formally resumed to my knowledge. George Miller still confirms in media interviews when asked (see detail below) that this is an active project for him - he has currently stated that this will be an Anime film (see the March 2009 update below), although he would still go with live action if given the opportunity to do so. Mel Gibson has subsequently stated in interviews that he will not be involved, and George Miller has currently confirmed this. At this point it seems likely that George Miller will complete Happy Feet 2, and possibly Justice League (not sure if that is still happening), before resuming with Mad Max 4. So that would most likely put it to at least a 2011 release at the earliest, if the project does proceed as currently indicated, and there are no additional delays. Of course, if you read any information or rumours that are more recent or can provide an update to this, please do contact me.
Below you will find all the "recent" Mad Max 4 news and rumours in full detail. There have been media stories and rumours on Mad Max 4 for more than 10 years now, if you want to read the oldest articles and rumours as well, they are archived on two sub-pages: Rumours from 1998 to 2000; and Rumours from 1998 back.
Please also check the main page of the web site - all current news and rumours are posted there first, and it sometimes may be a few days before they are updated to this page.
May 2009
May 18th
Mad Max 4 is on the movie again, "industry sources say"... No word on exactly who the source is, or any official word from Kennedy Miller at this point, but certainly the Australian press has been all over this story today, in the papers, on TV and on radio. Check out the articles printed in today's Herald Sun and The Age Newspaper. Ninemsn also reported that Mad Max IV "may be headed for big screen", but again, only quoting the other papers as the source.
March 2009
March 5th
The MTV Movies Blog has announced that Mad Max 4 is back on - and this time it's Anime! An interesting route to take - one that I'm personally not sure about. Most people come back to the original trilogy for the cars and the action - quite basically their connection with the reality of that world, and the action within it. I'm not convinced that an Anime incarnation would hit the intended audience with the same impact. You could certainly explore other stories in the Mad Max world going this route (think Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Animatrix), but I'm unsure about presenting the next feature this way. Wait and see I guess.
Note that this news has also been published at slashfilm.com and worstpreviews.com (and I would guess other sites) - they just seem to be referencing the MTV story above, with no further information.
March 11th
The MTV Movies Blog has followed up with another Mad Max 4 related post, this time with George Miller stating that a live action Mad Max 4 is still not ruled out. The interview quotes that Dr Miller would still be interested in pursuing this as a live action piece, but this would depend on him being given the opportunity to do so. Fingers crossed that he gets the funding green lit to go this route - you can read the full MTV Movies blog article here.
December 2008
December 1st
Dr. D Studios, the new digital production studio in Sydney, has Fury Road listed as being in pre-production on their web site. Check out www.drdstudios.com for further information, although there isn't particularly any detail offered on the project on the web site as yet.
October 2007
October 29th
Mad Max 4 is back on (apparently!) - see the article at Moviehole.net. Now you know what I know...
January 2007
January 25th
George Miller has been nominated for an Academy Award for Happy Feet, and was featured in another article in the Age today, where (among other things) Mad Max 4 was again mentioned. Sounds like its still planned to happen, but it is probably a couple of films and a few years away yet...
July 2005
July 23rd
The August 2005 issue of Empire Magazine (Australia) includes a review of the recently released Kennedy Miller DVDs on pages 110-111. Also included is a brief Q&A with George Miller on the TV series, his movies, and Mad Max 4.
July 19th
July 2004
July 5th
According to Yahoo Entertainment news, Mad Max 4 is back on again, and Mel is ready to start shooting. Read the full article at http://au.news.yahoo.com/ent/woolworths.html.
June 2004
June 9th
Ain't It Cool News reports that Mad Max 4 is a no go - read the story at http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=17739. Bummer.
April 2004
April 15th
Newsweek Entertainment published an article on March 29th alluding to the fact that Mad Max 4 is still a go for later this year, you can read the (brief) article here.
March 2004
March 29th
From Newsweek Entertainment: March 29 issue - Last week Mel Gibson told Fox News talk-show host Sean Hannity he was interested in filming the story of the Maccabees�the Jewish liberators whose triumph is celebrated at Chanukah. Could Gibson, whose "Passion of the Christ" has been called anti-Semitic, have been serious? Absolutely, says his publicist, Alan Neirob. "I've heard him talk about this project for years." But Gibson won't be doing it this year�for one thing, he's making a fourth "Mad Max" movie (the first since 1985), called "Mad Max: Fury Road." "Isn't it funny," one industry source muses. "A month ago, everybody was saying 'The Passion' would hurt Mel's career, and now all anyone wants to know is what he's doing next." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4569728/.
November 2003
November 18th
Monday's Sydney Morning Herald features an interview with George Miller, including a brief mention on Mad Max 4 among other things.
September 2003
September 22nd
From Daily Variety: With his "Mad Max" sequel stalled, Mel Gibson has found a new chopper. Gibson is negotiating with Warner Bros. Pictures to star in "Under and Alone," an action drama based on the true story of ATF undercover agent Billy Queen, who infiltrated the notorious and violent Mongols Motorcycle Club. http://email.variety.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/eVQV0EsRdP0Im30fid0A5.
August 2003
August 18th
Moviehole.net reports some further Mad Max 4 Fury Road rumours, jump over to their site and check the news for August 18th.
May 2003
May 29th
According to moviehole.net, Australian actress Georgie Shew is in talks for a role in Mad Max 4.
March 2003
March 26th
An interview with Heath Ledger at moviehole.net, which includes another (albeit minor) Mad Max 4 tidbit.
March 3rd
moviehole.net reported the story Australian Bikers Hired for Mad Max 4 on March 3rd.
news.com.au posted another report on the Mad Max 4 delays on March 3rd.
Variety (free trial subscription, etc) also reported the Mad Max 4 filming delay back on February 27th.
March 1st
The Namibian newspaper reported on Tuesday that the production of Fury Road may have been postponed. See the full article at their web site.
The same story was also printed in Variety (repritned at Yahoo News), comingsoon.net, darkhorizons.com, another article at Yahoo, moviehole.net, and probably in further places that I'm not yet aware of.
February 2003
February 4th
moviehole.net reports that "Mad Max: Fury Road" will start filming on June 1st, see the moviehole.net web site for the full story.
February 2nd
According to Variety, 20th Century Fox have set the release date of "Mad Max: Fury Road" as July 23rd, 2004 (the full article for Variety subscribers can be found here, free trial subscription is available).
January 2003
January 30th
The Australian newspaper reports today that stunt crew auditions are under way for Fury Road, read the article at their web site (also apparently on page 3 of the printed version). A big thanks to moviehole.net for posting this information.
January 27th
Dark Horizons reports that stunt riders were auditioned for Mad Max 4 last week, see the news section at Dark Horizons for further info.
January 6th
The Herald Sun has printed another Mad Max 4 article, this time about Robert Downey Junior's possible involvement. You can read the article online here. This article is most likely based on the article from First Magazine mentioned below (Dec 30th, 2002).
December 2002
December 30th
As reported at Dark Horizons, George Miller has revealed more of the film's details in First Magazine 'Asia's premier movie magazine'. The article reports "We're almost done on the script, and we hope to get filming early in the year. Yes Mel's back on board (in response to his payment) He's worth every cent. I mean would you watch a Mad Max film without Mel?". In terms of casting - "We've a bit of a way to go there. But Mel has an idea to put Robert Downey Jnr - who I adore by the way - in a role, and I myself would love to see some of the faces from the earlier films return be it Tina Turner, Emil Minty...". If anyone has the full article please let me know, I couldn't find a copy of the magazine in Australia yet.
December 21st
moviehole.net has posted the rumour "Mad Max 4 might be filming in Australia after all" on Thursday. They also posted the rumour "Is Kevin Smith penning Mad Max 4" on Wednesday.
December 13th
Another Mad Max 4 article at moviehole.net today (based on yesterday's article from The Herald Sun).
JAM! Showbiz' question of the day is 'Are you interested in another Mad Max sequel' - see their web site at http://www.canoe.ca/Jam/home.html, the survey is on the right of the page, half way down.
Some more Mad Max 4 information, from an anonymous source, can be found at the Corona Films web site.
December 10th
"Mad Max 4 - Fury Road" is apparently full steam ahead, there was an article / interview printed in Variety on December 10th - for the full article go here (subscribers only, trial subscription available).
The story was subsequently also printed at the following web sites: cnn.com; TV Guide Online; hollywood.com; BBC; New York Times; Aint It Cool News; Cinescape; Empire (UK); Entertainment Weekly; E! Online; Herald Sun; Sydney Morning Herald; Sydney Daily Telegraph; Dark Horizons; Film Four; and Yahoo (also see their summary page).
A follow-up story was printed in The Herald Sun, which was followed by a similar story at moviehole.net.
September 2002
There's a new Mad Max 4 rumour posted over at Movie Poop Shoot, check the blue column on the right hand side of the page about a third of the way down. Greg's Movie Previews at Yahoo rehashes and references this same article, and then adds that it will all be happening "sometime in 2003", even though there's no apparent mention of that at the first site.
July 2002
Dark Horizons posted a brief Mad Max 4 mention on July 29th, which can be found online here. The original article from Latino Review can be found online here.
Cinescape also posted another article, which can be found online at their web site here.
June 2002
The New Jersey Star Ledger featured a Mad Max 4 article on June 8, which can be found online here. They are also doing an in depth Road Warrior 20th Anniversary article on June 16.
April 2002
Mel visited Australia to promote his new film, We Were Soldiers, and of course several reporters took the chance to ask him about Mad Max 4. Mel basically confirmed that he has seen a script and is interested in doing the film, but there are quite a few other factors that would need to be resolved before the project proceeds.
The Herald Sun had two articles, see Article 1 & Article 2, and the Courier Mail in Sydney also had an article. For a full list of newspaper articles from Mel's visit, see the discussion forum.
March 2002
Cinescape online has printed a brief update on Mad Max 4, see their web page.
The Sydney Daily Telegraph contains another Mad Max 4 "update" in the March 10 edition. An online version can be found at their web site.
Sydney Sunday Telegraph, March 10 2002, page 19.The German web site http://www.moviefans.de/madmax/ contains a summary of many of the Mad Max 4 rumours, although mostly in German. Perhaps try the translator at Google, http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en.
December 2001
This article is from the Tasmanian Mercury newspaper, and it's basically just a reworking of the info that was posted on various web sites in November (see the November section below for links). Thanks to John Solloway for this.
November 2001
According to Urban Cinefile, the Mad Max script is ready to go and casting has begun. Read the full story at their web site.
An update to this story was posted at www.comingsoon.net. Thanks to http://www.brendanfehr.net for sending me this info.
Total Film magazine printed this update in their November issue:
Thanks to John Solloway for this
October 2001
UPDATE: For a review of the "casting call", you should read this message on the madmaxmovies discussion forum.
UPDATE: The people running this sent a notice to Miller To The Max, effectively stating that it is for "potential" casting. Sounds like Endorphin is just a casting agency looking to get a variety of people into their books, and then hopefully sell their services to people casting movies. It does not seem like they have any solid contract to supply extras for Mad Max 4. Might as well save yourself the $24 entrance fee...
There is an "Endorphin" casting call for Mad Max 4 in Sydney later this month. It will be at the Hybrid night club, 40 Dangar Place (10 minutes walk from Central Station), 20th-21st October, entry between 10pm and 1:30am. The flyer is pictured below.
Hybrid night club flyer, click for a larger viewIt seems this might be similar to the way some of the Matrix extras casting was done in Sydney last month. Hybrid is a "Bondage & Discipline" type club, if you haven't guessed, which would obviously be a similar style of look to the costuming seen in the previous two Mad Max films. If anyone knows anything more about this, please contact me.
Dark Horizons reported another Mad Max 4 rumour on October 4th, taken from the UK fanzine "FAN-FAN-ZEEN". Copies of this report can also be found at the Moviehole web site (see their listings for October 5th and 6th), and scifi.com.
September 2001
Dolly magazine apparently did an interview with Heath Ledger this month, in which he was asked about Mad Max 4, and stated that he was not involved. (I have no copy of this article, if anyone does, please send it. Thanks).
August 2001
13th Street published the following article, which doesn't appear to offer any useful or substantial information at all, or be backed up by any reliable source. Just another time waster if you ask me...
June 2001
On June 12th, the Herald Sun (an Australian newspaper), ran the following article:
The article can also be found online at the Herald Sun web site.
Encore magazine subsequently reported that that George Miller's assistant, Belinda Johns, quashed this report. Johns said "George is still writing the story, so nothing is for certain yet, but when it happens, it will happen quickly". The script is looking likely to be completed by year's end for shooting to begin early-mid 2002, Gibson's involvement as either actor or producer is unknown, and a location for filming is also unknown (thus striking out the Morocco location rumour). Thanks also to Filmnet for this info.
Aint It Cool News also posted the same rumour, and then posted the correction on the following day.
That's all for now...
Feel free to browse through the Rumours from 1998 to 2000, and Rumours from 1998 back.