It was a big year for Mad Max at Comic-Con. Gracing the cover of the Entertainment Weekly exclusive to the con, a Hall-H panel, and the release of the trailer all brought a noticeable buzz to patrons old enough to remember the originals and those seeing the character for the first time. With great pleasure, we attended an intimate press conference with Director/Writer George Miller and Producer Doug Mitchell, who discussed the challenges of bringing this movie to the big screen and teased additional adventures planned for Max beyond Fury Road.
It comes as no surprise, especially after the release of the trailer, that we are seeing a much younger Max in this film. We'll be seeing a man closer to the recent wounds of losing his family, and that will be mirrored by the desert environments and the people that inhabit it.
When asked if we would be seeing any other characters from previous films, George Miller said we wouldn't. He did say that many of the actors who played villains in previous films would be returning to play different characters. To add to the returning cast, they dropped a fun little tid-bit that all of the stunt actors who were young and reckless in the 1979 film were back to do the stunt work for this new film thirty-five years later.
This opened the two up to the question of whether or not Mel Gibson was asked to reprise his role as Max. George Miller explained that there was a time when Gibson was attached, back around 2001. He said the project was ready to go at the time, but after the attacks on September 11, 2001 that the budget for the film evaporated and their hearts were not in it after the tragedy of that day and those proceeding it.
Also discussed was the change in filming location from the deserts of Australia to those of Africa. Apparently, a rare period of heavy rains came to the Australian Outback during filming which brought a rare flourish of greenery to the normally bleak landscape. With the desert playing such a significant role in the tone of the story, they were required to make a painstaking trek to the deserts of Africa to keep consistency. They talked of the heavy toll that took on the crew as they were required to transport many vehicles and set pieces, pieces so heavy or delicate that they were never intended to be moved such great distances. They smoothed over those difficulties with a chuckle, saying that even the smallest production is never easy to complete.
Questions turned to the future of the Mad Max franchise at the end. Would there be another movie? George Miller confirmed that he did have enough material for a screenplay and a novel. He didn't confirm whether we'd be seeing a follow-up film or not, but I'm sure if Fury Road does well, we'll be seeing a lot more of Max Rockatansky in the future. Mad Max: Fury Road will be released in theaters May 15, 2015.
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