12 Alternative Versions Of Sci-Fi Movies We Didn't Get To See

12. Heath Ledger As Mad Max In Fury Road

George Miller spent decades trying to get a fourth instalment of his most beloved creation, the Mad Max franchise, off the ground. Given how much the auteur struggled to find funding, there were inevitably a couple of necessary rewrites by the time shooting began.

Despite star Mel Gibson’s, er, uneven relationship with fame in the intervening years, Miller had harboured hopes that the Lethal Weapon star would return to the role which made him famous. However, advancing age and a busy career as a director put the kibosh on this notion.

Miller drafted Heath Ledger as his replacement in the central role of the eponymous outlaw, but the actor’s untimely passing prompted the casting of fellow Batman baddie Tom Hardy.

The film was also intended to be an interquel set between the original trilogy’s first and second instalments, but the idea was scrapped presumably because it wouldn’t make much sense to shoot a mid-story instalment with a whole new cast.