Mad Max….A Furious Road Ahead

The Mad Max sequel ‘The Road Warrior‘ redefined the action genre with it’s raw visual style and unrelenting violence. Photographed by Oscar winner Dean Semler and directed by George Miller,  it’s frenetic style set the tone for this jarring vision of man’s loss of humanity in a future where society had decayed. When Mel Gibson portrayed the titular character in the second outing the film was a massive hit and was in stark contrast to its predecessor which depicted an everyday highway policeman who loses his friend and family then subsequently goes on a trail of revenge to capture or kill the group of highway bandits.

[jwplayer config=”ws_movie_2″ mediaid=”423″]Mad Max -property of Village Roadshow Pictures

The Road Warrior made a significant leap from the original taking audiences to a place which was not eluded to in the first, and the man who becomes the road warrior was a unique extension of the original character whose shattered life is mirrored by the disordered society around him. The violent and high octane action was a testament to the commitment of the cast, crew and stuntmen who created some truly memorable cinematic scenes. Long before CGI changed how stunts are accomplished, the film created true visual spectacle which is likely one of the reasons why George Miller is returning to revisit this story.

[jwplayer config=”ws_movie_2″ mediaid=”427″]The Road Warrior-property of Warner Bros

In 2003 plans were in motion to film a fourth movie in Nambia but were soon canceled after the military machine descended upon the middle east region. When reports surfaced last year that George Miller was returning to helm a new installment it was the assumption that a sequel or prequel would be the premise. Many fans hoped that a story would in some way involve the irrepressible and implosive Mel Gibson, but it seems at this point that a full scale updating of the character and the post apocalyptic world is underway.

Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult

Casting of the Max character has now been given to 32-year-old English stage and screen actor Tom Hardy of Inception fame despite rumors that Sam Worthington might nab the role. Actors who’ve also signed on are Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult with other casting news from HeatVision confirming that the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Riley Keough has landed a role. She made her film debut in this year’s Runways, the story of the 70s girl rock band playing the sister to Dakota Fanning‘s character, Cherie Currie. Keough’s part is said to be playing one of the ‘Five Wives’ who Max must keep safe alongside actresses Teresa Palmer, Adelaide Clemens and Zoë Kravitz.

Riley Keough,Teresa Palmer, Adelaide Clemens and Zoë Kravitz.

Shooting of the new film was scheduled to begin this August, however that date has now been pushed back to early next year as the word is that the story is being extended into a second film entitled Furiosa. This would serve to take advantage of the massive production underway in outback Australia and the sizable budget and development time needed. The change of schedule is wreaking havoc for both cast and crew as the principals were expecting shooting to commence this year. At a recent press junket for Nolan’s Inception, Hardy was interviewed by Collider and gave these nuggets about the new Mad Max and his role.

It’s a relaunch and revisit to the world. An entire restructuring.  That’s not to say that it’s not picking up or leaving off from the Mad Max you know already, but it’s a nice re-take on the entire world using the same character, depositing him in the same world but bringing him up to date by 30 years. Mel would be perfect for it but, for some reason, he’s not doing it and I am. You can expect the same amount of grit and rawness and authenticity and performance, I hope to deliver.

Known for his remarkable transformations for a role, when asked what he’d look like he said,

Imagine a hungry wolf. Or like when you put a cat in the bath. You grab a cat by the throat and stuff it under the fucking water. You know what it looks like? That’s what I’m going to look like. But like a puma. Very hungry and very dangerous. It’s imperative. This is the kind of guy who’s not well. So I have to create that reality.

Special effects artist behind the impressive Lord of the rings trilogy will be offering their unique digital interpretation of the future world. The weta workshops have confirmed that they will be creating most of the FX for the film, though as Hardy added that any CGI will aim to complement the physical staging of the action.

These things are going to be really there. Big rigs, big explosions, big car crashes. Big violence, you know. It’s going to actually happen as opposed to doing a 2D turned to 3D screen. It’s going to be an adventure, let’s put it that way.

The Mad Max reboot is also set to bring another element to this action genre with shooting being planned in a whole new digital 3-D format. George Miller is working on advancements pioneered by the Dalsa Coporation to build his own 3D rigs and cameras to take advantage of the new technology. In a recent interview with the Aussie magazine Inside Film, George Miller confirmed his 3D vision for Mad Max.

Seven years ago we were going to shoot in 3D but the technology in cinemas wasn’t geared for it then but I always loved 3D or stereo………We are doing 3D on Fury Road – we are shooting with real 3D cameras.

Audiences can prepare themselves for a brand-new level of blistering 3D road carnage action that has not been seen in films for some time and we’ll keep you informed of developing news about this latest Mad Max installment.