Director George Miller is hard at work readying the follow up to the CGI animated flick Happy Feet, but recently he spoke with the The Daily Telegraph and gave an update regarding the languishing production of the next Mad Max movie. Originally, the $100 million new installment was set to start shooting in August of 2010, with Tom Hardy taking over the titular role and Charlize Theron playing a key part. Pre-production was underway, with cars and sets made and stunt-work being orchestrated. Miller had also been making advancements with the camera systems to give a new type of 3d experience.
Though production came to a screeching halt when torrential rains flooded the area in Broken Hill, Australia where the production would be filmed, turning the apocalyptic setting into a ‘flower garden’.
Speaking in in Sydney, Australia this week, the director reaffirmed that the fourth installment was not in jeopardy, though it had been delayed for an unusually long period.
All the contracts are signed. It’s a locked-in film. It has been for 18 months now. Ironically, had we been shooting in Broken Hill in January and February—when we were meant to—we would have been flooded out.
Miller has been developing a follow up to Mad Max for the better part of the decade, and while it seems unlikely Mel Gibson will be involved, the new film will serve to continue the story of the ‘Road Warrior’.
In a past interview Miller had this to say about the new movie:
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.
With stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron booked, Nicholas Hoult who can next be seen in ‘X-Men: First Class‘ is also set to star and Aussie bombshell Teresa Palmer was also rumored to be attached to the project prior to its delays, so we’ll know more when production gears up later this year.
We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year—weather permitting. We’ve built the vehicles. We’ve designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It’s all ready to go. We just wait.
George Miller’s next film Happy Feet 2, opens November 18th, 2011.
via: The Daily Telegraph
[…] the lure of explosive road carnage seemed attractive at first, there been some production missteps along the way – the most noteworthy being the relocation to Namibia, which […]