Status Update: Mad Max Fury Road (2014)
It’s official, ManlyMovie has learned that a rough cut of Mad Max: Fury Road is in existence and is being circulated among certain bigwigs in the industry. No word yet on what it actually looks like, or even what it’s about. It’s been a long, long time coming and for better or worse, Fury Road has defeated development hell. There are a lot of tight lips on this project though, getting concrete information is hard. We don’t know whether the movie is a prequel, sequel or reboot The presence of an Interceptor seems to suggest reboot since the car was destroyed in Mad Max 2, although the exact same car was due to appear in the Mel Gibson version, which was said to be a sequel. Regardless, we’re going to piece together what is known/rumored…
- We know that the Interceptor will make a return. This was always the plan, even in the cancelled 2003 sequel. In fact, the contract to build a new car was given to a South African firm in 2003. The car was finished but when the movie was cancelled and Mel pulled out, it was shipped to Australia and kept in storage. When serious work began on Mad Max: Fury Road again in 2010, it was removed from storage and prepared for filming. The car will most certainly be used ‘for purpose’ and allegedly be used at legit speeds in excess of 140mph. This suggests that more than one car will be required, although no evidence has surfaced. Below are pictures of the car at various stages. Note that the car appears in ‘Mad Max 1’ condition, then shown in disrepair. I.e. it retains the nosecone that was destroyed at the outset of Mad Max 2.
- The movie will be released in summer 2014. No exact date is known but a recent rumor of yet another delay into 2015 because of reshoots and post-conversion 3D work is false. However the movie will be converted to 3D, that much is true. More footage will be shot in Australia in 2013, but whether or not this is new footage or reshooting is unclear. All of this seems to confirm that this is a sole movie and not two back to back movies as originally suggested.
- The movie will feature an extensive chase sequence that will take place on a purpose built 4km road in Namibia (although the setting is Australia). This chase put the V8 Interceptor through its paces at legit speeds in excess of 140mph. This is unlikely to be the finale as it was among the first scenes shot and the Interceptor (second pic, above) is still in decent shape. Is this the opening sequence?
- As mentioned above, there’s some confusion as to whether or not this is a sequel or reboot. Well, we can rule out prequel, since Max’s first encounter with the car is in Mad Max, and the car looks to have sustained damage that does not appear at the beginning of The Road Warrior. The car was originally intended to reappear with Mel in a sequel to Thunderdome, which suggests that if another was to be ‘found’ in the 2003 version, little might have changed in the script. However, we’re going to go with ‘reboot’ as of now, not least because of the words of Theron: “It’s not the original ‘Mad Max.’ It’s the revamped ‘Mad Max.’”, and Hardy: “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.” That’s quite ambiguous. It should be noted that Hugh Keays-Byrne appears in this movie as ‘Immortan Joe’ – yes, spelled like that, despite being killed in Mad Max as major villain ‘The Toecutter’. Mind you, Miller cast the Gyro Captain twice under seperate names between Mad Max 1 and 2, although he wasn’t clearly killed in the first movie.
- There was a rumor floating around in late 2011 that Mel Gibson had shot a cameo as an aging drifter. Mel has shot that rumor down as false: “Nope. I’ve got nothing to do with it”, he said in 2012. Mel has spoken more on it since (see below). His wording is kind of interesting, it’s like the script hasn’t changed much, only Hardy replacing him. This would go back to the sequel idea with the doppelgänger Interceptor, but who knows. More encouraging is that Mel thinks it’s going to be a good show.
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