Mel Gibson shot to fame back in 1979 after playing the iconic, vengeance seeking, titular character in, Mad Max; a man that witnesses his wife and baby murdered, in a lawless future wasteland, and promptly hunts down those involved, and exacts his revenge in a brutal, ingenious, and rather just, fashion; that set the benchmark for all revenge movies the have followed since.
There have been rumours of a fourth film in the series stemming back for years (pretty much since the third movie was released back in 1985), but not so long ago those rumours were finally quashed; when it was confirmed that George Miller (the man who wrote, produced, and directed, the three original Mad Max films) would be directing not one, but two new Mad Max movies, without Mel Gibson.
The two films; titled Mad Max: Fury Road, and Mad Max: Furiosa; have recently lost some rumoured cast members, and had shooting delayed until the beginning of next year (instead of starting in the next couple of months), but has still managed to hold on to British actor Tom Hardy (who’s best known for his portrayal of the famous convict Charles Bronson, but was most recently seen in Inception) in the lead role; a role that he is very excited about, despite the vigorous training regime that calls for him to lose 30 pounds (over two stone) for the part.
The specific details of the plot still remain largely secretive, although it is no longer thought to be a remake as such, but take place shortly after the events of Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, and will involve Max having to protect a group of women known as the Five Wives.
Already confirmed to be playing two of the wives are Adelaide Clemens (Wasted on the Young) and Zoe Kravitz (daughter of rocker Lenny Kravitz, who starred in The Brave One), who may be joined by Riley Keough; the granddaughter of Elvis who’s only current role has been in The Runaways (although she is currently midway through production of the lesbian werewolf flick Jack and Diane, and has already shot The Good Doctor with Pirates of the Caribbean star Orlando Bloom); who is currently in talks to appear as another member of the five.
Also appearing will be Charlize Theron (Monster), and Nicholas Hoult (Clash of the Titans), in the movies that Tom Hardy has said will “pick up the Mad Max up know, and deposit him in the same world, but bring him up to date by 30 years”, and bring a lot of “big rigs, big explosions, big car crashes, and big violence” to the screen, when it’s released in 2012.
