MAD MAX 4: FURY ROAD Moving Quickly

I do mean “quickly” both literally and figuratively, as it was announced on Saturday in Australia’s The Daily Telegraph that pre-production on George Miller’s fourth installment in the MAD MAX series had begun.  Word came down  last week as to who Miller himself saw in the lead roles (thumbs up for Tom Hardy, thumbs in the I-don’t-know for Charlize).  Rumors come up in the Telegraph that redux go-to guy Sam Worthington is up for the lead role.  Hardy would be better, but I understand the box office draw Worthington is slowly amassing.

While much of the Telegraph article is about how the new MAD MAX film will bring much to the Australian economy, it does touch on some of the technical aspects on the film.  For one, it is revealed the film will have 30 weeks worth of production.  With most films generally taking 2-3 months to shoot, this amount of production time is insane, and reveals some of what Miller’s scope for the film will be.  The whole project is expected to take 2 1/2 years to complete, so look for a Summer 2012 release date.

Premier of New South Wales, Nathan Rees, had this to say:

The Mad Max films are iconic.  In the hands of director George Miller, we will see one of the largest and most ambitious live action films ever made in Australia. This is a clear vote of confidence in Australian expertise. This proves that Sydney is an international contender for major film production.

Granted, Rees is a Premier whose ties to the film are strictly political, but him saying “live action” in that quote pretty much puts to bed any ideas Miller had about shooting this animated-style as was believed was to be the style of the film a few years back.

In addition to the Telegraph’s article about pre-production beginning, we also have this clip courtesy of Australia’s ABC News.  It features Miller introducing some of the cars that are to be used in MAD MAX 4, and it has Miller expounding on some of those casting rumors.