Mad Max 4 / Fury Road - Current News
News and rumours on the next installment in the Mad Max series have been circulating for many years now, first with rumours back in 1995 of a possible Mad Max TV series, followed in 1998 by the first rumours suggesting that a fourth film may be on the way.
In 2003, production was tantalisingly close, getting within 11 weeks of a proposed shoot in Namibia. Alas, tensions in the region due to the Gulf War, coupled with a rising Australian dollar at the time, scuttled the plans, and Mad Max "Fury Road" was shelved.
Further rumours of a possible restart have flowed on and off since then, and finally, some six years later,
on Saturday October 24th 2009 a press conference was held by Kennedy Miller Mitchell to officially announce
that Fury Road is back on track.
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According to director George Miller, pre-production has already commenced, and filming is due to begin in August 2010. The film is planned for a 30 week shoot, in Sydney (I would expect most likely on closed sets or sound stages, as per Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), and in Broken Hill. The projected release date for the film itself is some two and a half years away - look for Fury Road to hit screens no earlier than May 2012 at this stage!
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The production of the film has been made largely possible through the New South Wales government, who have provided the Redfern carriage works free of charge for the film's production (in conjunction with Happy Feet 2), along with other government financial incentives, as well as the Producer Offset (rebate) available for qualifying Australian film productions. This is an important win for the Australian film industry, particularly in light of the loss of Justice League Mortal earlier this year due to its ineligibility for the rebate under the same scheme, and the more recent loss to Australia of the Green Lantern, which had been due to start shooting at Fox Studios in Sydney in November. |
| The film is to be produced in conjunction with Warner Brothers, and the production budget has been compared to the $130m spent on Baz Luhrmann's Australia. The production is expected to generate up to 500 jobs in the process, along with the flow on effect to the many industry areas that will be required to support it. Obviously it is still early in the production, so the budget figure is purely speculative at this stage - noting also that although the figure was quoted in the news reported, it wasn't directly heard coming from any of the film makers in the footage aired. |
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Director George Miller explained that the reason the movie is so big is that "it's got just a huge number of stunts, and we're trying to do stuff that I believe people haven't done before". When questioned on casting, Dr Miller confirmed that they've definitely had many big names approach them, but it was still early days. "Everyone's an option, there's lots of wonderful wonderful actors out there". Although the producers would not be drawn on any specific names, Variety has since confirmed that Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy have both been cast in the film. Details on their roles have not been given at this stage. In an interview with the Melbourne Herald Sun (just prior to this media event on October 24th), Mel Gibson played down any involvement. You can read the original article here, and a more recent version of the same article here, with much the same quotes. Sam Worthington had also been rumoured by many media outlets to be involved, but in recent media interviews (mid November) has stated that he has not been approached. |
The ABC News report can be viewed through their YouTube channel, and is also embedded below.
ABC News Mad Max "Fury Road" Press Conference, 24 October 2009
You can also read the ABC News Story in their entertainment
news section. ABC Local News in Broken Hill have also posted a
story to their site on the upcoming
Fury Road production
For a further look at the media event, and more of a look at the vehicles, also see the
Sky News Mad Max 4 coverage at YouTube, as well as being embedded below.
Sky News Mad Max "Fury Road" Press Conference, 24 October 2009
Coverage of the press event can also be found in the various online newspapers, with articles in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Daily Delegraph, The Melbourne Herald Sun, and news.com.au.