movie news: First (unofficial) look at Mad Max reboot/sequel – Mad Max: Fury Road

I am ashamed to admit, sci-fi post-apocalypse fan that I am, that I haven’t seen the Max Max films.

Not too ashamed to lead with it mind you, but ashamed enough to… say I’m ashamed.

If, like me, you’ve never seen a Mad Max film and have oft wondered what they’re about, let me catch you up.

The original films are basically Westerns. We were first introduced to Max, and a little known Mel Gibson, in 1979 in the aptly titled Mad Max. Max is the lawman, out to try to keep the peace in a dystopic Australia where society is breaking down into chaos. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, released in 1981, is about a group of settlers who have to defend themselves from raiders. The third, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, picks up 18 years after Mad Max 2, Max has been wandering the outback as a nomad when he finds himself drawn into the shady underground of the Thunderdrome, a gladiator style arena where conflicts are resolved by a fight to the death.

Mad Max 4, now titled Mad Max: Fury Road, has been rumoured for a long time – a very long time considering Mad Max Beyond Thunderdrome came out in 1985. The original director, George Miller, announced back in 2003 that a script had been completed however financial, political and finally climactic set backs meant that it looked like it was never going to get off the ground.

Happily though, it seems all those problems have been resolved. As you can see from the images, they have finally started shooting. Mel Gibson is apparently a little too long in the tooth to step back into the role of Max however fortunately Tom Hardy has taken up the reigns. He has been joined by Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-Whitely (of Transformers 3, make of that what you will), Nicholas Hoult and Abbey Lee (from whose Tumblr these photos came).

There not a lot out there about the film or the plot but at least these photo proved that filming has actually started. Click on the image below to get to the gallery.

Were you a fan of the Mad Max? Are you looking forward to a sequel or has it been too long?

[sources: Abbey Lee Kershaw via Screen Rant]