Hard to believe but it’s now ten years since MAD MAX: FURY ROAD began pre-production. Originally set to be filmed with original star Mel Gibson in early 2002 in Africa, the situation with the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq nixed the idea. Then Gibson had his troubles with the law and that was that.

There was talk for a while of them doing some kind of anime version. Then about 3 years ago it was announced that the project was a go again and would be filming in Australia with INCEPTION and BRONSON star Tom Hardy taking over from Gibson. Weather problems have delayed the production start in Australia and it now seems that in an interview with The Daily Beast, Hardy has reminded everyone that it’s still on his ‘to do’ list.

In the interview Hardy says that the film is set to start filming next Spring (still with George Miller wielding the megaphone) in Namibia and that he will begin his training schedule for the film in March.

With such a troubled production story, no doubt the script has gone through numerous re-writes, the story behind this one will one day rival Alien 3 as a cautionary tale of what can happen behind the scenes when too many people are involved. When it eventually comes out fans of the original films from the first time around will be in their 40s and 50s. Will modern audiences care about the post apocalyptic world that has been so influential? It’s interesting that even now you can see the original trilogies influence in games like BRINK and RAGE. Not to mention the film DRIVE ANGRY which owes the first MAD MAX a huge debt.

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