The Hatter Gets Some "Mad" Competition

Bear with me, dear redbloggers as I spend the next week clearing out a huge pile of movie production news. Some of it, like this update on the fourth Mad Max movie won't be sparkling new news, but I hope you find it interesting.

As you may have heard, production is moving ahead on Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth film in the Australian, post-apocalyptic action series. The original three films were created by director George Miller and made Mel Gibson a world-wide star.

(I grew up with The Road Warrior on cable in the early '80s, though for me Beyond Thunderdome played more as an overly slick, silly romp than a gritty action kick--I just never really got past Tina's wig.)

So when it was announced Miller was finally getting a fourth Max off the ground, the first question on everyone's mind was "Will Mad Mel be back?" After all, it's not unheard of these days for aging '80s action stars to dust off the walker and take another run at the characters and franchises that made them rich and famous: Harrison Ford in Indy 4, Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4, Sly Stallone in both Rocky 6 and Rambo 4, and even Ah-nold made a cameo appearance in Terminator 4, albeit via a computer-generated stand-in for the Governator.

Well it appears unlikely that Gibson will be back as Max Rockatansky, although there are still some cameo possibilities kicking around. What we maybe sorta kinda know is this: The new Max film, directed by Miller, will take place shortly after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. So unless we're to believe that the harsh wasteland weather has really accelerated the aging process, we can count out Gibson as Max. However, in a recent interview with the Australian Herald Sun, Mel did not rule out the possibility of appearing in the film in a different role, maybe a cameo, maybe something more.

So who is the new leather-clad Madman in town? It'll be Tom Hardy, starring opposite Charlize Theron who is, quite frankly, tough enough to be the film's bad-ass heroine all by her lonesome. (Aeon Flux may not have been a great film, but Theron was plenty action-y in it.) Still, the casting of Hardy, presumably to play Max, fills me with glee. For a while this summer there were rumors that Jeremy Renner from The Hurt Locker might take the part, and I was fine with that. But Hardy kicks the project up to another level of cool. (Despite complaints from some folks Down Under that the role is going to--gasp!--a dreaded Englishman.)

You see, I finally caught up with Bronson a few weeks ago and boy oh boy does it present some fine credentials for Mr. Hardy. Hardy was in Black Hawk Down and his highest-profile role was as the Picard-clone villain in the awful Star Trek: Nemesis, the movie that shut down the old Star Trek feature-film franchise. You may also have caught him doing supporting work in Brit gangster films like Layer Cake and Rocknrolla.

Bronson is certainly in that vein: It tells--with great stylized, theatrical flair--the true story of Michael "Charles Bronson" Petersen, hyped as "the most violent prisoner in Britain." And Hardy, as Bronson, is utterly magnetic with his shaved head, handlebar mustache, and wild, glaring eyes. The role and the film's heightened aesthetic doesn't allow for much nuance in Hardy's performance, but as the film follows Bronson through 20 years of beatin' the puddin' out of people in and out of prison, it's safe to say if you're looking to put the "mad" in Mad Max, this is your man. After 25 years, I can't say I had much initial enthusiasm for a new Mad Max movie, but Hardy's casting has me seriously interested, bordering on excited.

How about you? Are you ready for more Max? Okay with Hardy and Theron's casting?

Comments

[Trevor L.]

It does seem weird that they're not using an Aussie, but Hardy does seem decent enough (but can he pull off the hair?). As for Theron, I definitely don't mind that casting choice :-).

[JGM]

The less Mel, the better, as far as I'm concerned. Unless you want to see Mad Max get tortured and disemboweled for two hours.

Frankly I'm up for any actioner that avoids the evil temptation of CGI. Count the late sequels ruined by CGI where none belonged: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Die Hard, Star Wars. It would be a shame to add Max to that list.