10 Things You Need To Know About Mad Max: Fury Road

8. Filming Was Delayed Several Times

In 2001, a casting call for extras with a "BDSM look" was sent out for Mad Max 4. The entertainment community was abuzz. Director George Miller was expected to look over the extras in person at Hybrid (a BDSM club in Sydney). It looked like a fourth Mad Max film was finally happening. In June of that same year it was reported that production was underway. At the time, it had been in pre-production for at least two years. Rumours were that Max might not even be in the film at that point, and that it might focus on the now grown up Feral Child of The Road Warrior. The Melbourne Herald Sun, among others, reported the news. Mel Gibson had other projects, and Heath Ledger at one point was mentioned as having the lead role. This was years after rumours that Michael Biehn (The Terminator) would be the new Max - those came in 1997. Talk of the movie died down for a few years until 1999, and heated up in the early 2000s. taking us to the aforementioned news that production was underway. However, after the casting call in 2001 came news in 2002 of location scouting in South Africa, due to various issues finding sites in Australia. Suddenly 2003 rolls around, and things are looking good. Mel Gibson is rumoured to sign on. Miller somehow secures a $100 million dollar budget. The title of the film is announced as "Fury Road." Then the world went and got in the way. The invasion of Iraq meant that filming in Nambia, which had been selected over Australia, was off the table due to security concerns. It was further believed by the studio that the film would be inappropriate given the ongoing war the an oil-rich nation. The production was shelved. By the time filming got back on track, Gibson was out for good. Miller considered an animated film for a while, then opted to go live action, and 3D. It took until 2009 for a replacement Max to be found in Tom Hardy, and filming was then set for Broken Hill, NSW in Australia. Only that failed as well. This time, nature got in the way - extremely high rainfall caused the area to bloom. Flowers in the desert in a Mad Max movie? Not happening. Filming was then moved back to Nambia, and took place in 2012, with reshoots in 2013. It's 2015 release date was set in November 2013. Counting the time during which the idea for a fourth film was hatched, the film spent almost 25 yeas in development.