Mad Max Past and Present

After six months of shooting, which finished last December, Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller is bringing the cast back to Australia for three additional weeks of shooting in November. The additional photography will be added to a long list of production woes for the film, including several delays due to weather. While this hiccup may worry some fans, it is entirely possible that it was caused by the busy schedules of the film’s many stars, or that production was simply planned this way.

The first three films in the Mad Max franchise (Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) take place in a brutal post-apocalyptic world where oil is the most highly valued commodity (hard to imagine). Biker gangs, warring tribes and the gladiatoral arena Thunderdome are just a few of the obstacles Max faces. Mad Max: Fury Road, which was filmed in the desert of Namibia, Africa, will take place in the same Mad Max universe. Not much is known about the plot except that Max (Tom Hardy) will be caught up in a group of people fleeing across the desert wasteland in a war rig driven by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron).      

Miller directed Australian star Mel Gibson in the first three installments of the Mad Max franchise, but when Gibson declined the role of Max in the fourth film believing he was too old, British actor Hardy won the iconic role. Gibson will still make a cameo appearance as a character called “Drifter.”

Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies), Rosey Huntington-Whiteley (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), Zoe Kravitz (X Men: First Class) and Riley Keough (Magic Mike) will also play supporting roles in the film.

Despite the many hold-ups in production Mad Max: Fury Road is expected to release in 2014.