Director George Miller says that plenty of material already exists to expand the new Mad Max film franchise.
Mad Max: Fury Road drove into theaters over the weekend and both critics and moviegoers alike seem to have come to the uniform conclusion that it’s one of the greatest action movies ever made. Filled to the brim with insane action and luscious visuals, it’s been hailed across the board as a game changer for action cinema. The big question that follows these sort of rave reviews, of course, is when we can expect a sequel. Luckily for fans, director George Miller is already raring to make more Mad Max and even has a title lined up for Fury Road’s successor.
Speaking in a recent Q&A, Miller revealed that the sequel to Fury Road will be called Mad Max: The Wasteland. Miller would go on to affirm however, that actual work on the film is currently limited just to planning, much of which was born itself from the long process of making Fury Road a reality. “We’ve got a screenplay and a novella,” he said. “It happened because with the delays [on Fury Road], and writing all the back stories, they just expanded.”
Fury Road was originally supposed to start filming back in 2001. It was unfortunately postponed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City which led to a whole plate of logistical problems for its production and the film industry at large. Shortly after that, Mel Gibson, who had originally been planning to reprise his classic role as the titular Max, had his infamous drunken meltdown and had to be recast. According to Miller, Heath Ledger had originally been favored to replace Gibson, but obviously wasn’t able to due to his tragic death in 2008. In other words, before we start pining after The Wasteland, we should consider ourselves lucky that Fury Road even exists.
Source: Indie Wire
