It could be something interesting to see Old Mel Gibson (51 years old) fighting Young & Bloodlusty Punk's I wander how he will get of this alive If he will

http://www.madmaxmovies.com/films/madmax4/

I wouldn't hold my breath. I remember in 2002, I thought we got something concrete after years of waiting when Warner Bros. greenlighted Mad Max 4, with a lucrative $104 Million budjet and Mel Gibson in the lead. It was happening back then. They were set to film in Namibia, but the plug was pulled by George W. Bush, by moving against Iraq and making the Middle East too unstable to sustain to a Hollywood blockbuster shoot. Meantime, Gibson had a holy war of his own with Passion of the Christ. After the enthusiastic reception of that film, it became apparent that neither Mad Max nor George Miller, the role and the director that made Gibson famous in the first place, were priorities to him any longer.

Thanks a lot, Mel. You could've just said no in the first place.

I think I would have preferred a "Mad Max 4" as opposed to "Lethal Weapon 4"...

Sigh... those first two Mad Max movies were really something...

(Didn't care too much for no. 3, though...)

Good or bad i wanna see it & i hope it will come out. I would like Mad max 4 to be something more "spiritual" that it have more message than action. Personally i like every 3 parts of Max each have his own story & mood.

I enjoyed the Mad Maxx films, but I'm not sure I would bother to see a 4th. It has had it's day, and in my opinion Passion of Christ put Mel Gibson in the 'don't bother' category for future films despite his great performances in past projects. As a film it didn't have a strong story line. If you didn't already know what the story was, you would never work out what was going on beyond gratuitous violence.

BW

George Miller, the optimist eternal. Curb your enthusiasm, since if I'd get a dollar every time I'd hear him promising the fourth outing, I'd have an enviable pension fund. No disrespect for the man, tho - the first two films are classic!

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Mad Max will be back, says Miller

Posted on Wed, 6-Jul-2005

Seems you just can't keep an Apocalyptic Road Warrior Down. George Miller's one-time full-speed-ahead plans for "Mad Max 4", are back on, the veteran filmmaker tells Australia's Empire Magazine. Though the film's production office - at Sydney's Fox Studios - has been vacated, and Mel Gibson is far from a lock, Miller says he still plans on doing the film.

"Yeah, there's a real hope", Miller says, when asked whether he thinks the sequel will be resurrected.

Miller doesn't think he has to live up to people's expectations with it, he'll just make the best movie possible. "You don't sit there saying, "Oh, I better make this film better than the last one". You say, "is this a great story"? So, is it? "The last thing I wanted to do is another Mad Max, but this came along, and I'm completely carried away with it. We were about to do the film, but the war came and the American dollar crashed and it was almost impossible to ship vehicles to our location. We had a deadline, and we couldn't meet it. We also had a deadline on Happy Feet [his next movie], so we said, "It's one or the other". So it's happy feet".

- Moviehole

Rejoice, George Miller is bankable again! HAPPY FEET, his $100 Million CGI penguin musical (gimme a break), has at this writing grossed over $120 Million at the US box-office alone. The film will hit into European cinemas during the coming week, just in time for Christmas.

If there ever was a chance for MAD MAX 4, I think this will be the best bet; the creditors are likely to be more willing now that Miller's effectively nullifying the memory of his last feature film, the underappreciated, underperformed, BABE 2: PIG IN THE CITY.

Look out for the MAD MAX question popping up every other time Miller now decides to do press for HAPPY FEET, been that way for the last ten or so years.

Sure enough, here's Dark Horizons:

"After devoting the last several years to Happy Feet, it is not surprising that Miller will take some time off to spend with his family, recharge his batteries, before working on what he describes "as a much smaller film." That will be followed by the long awaited Mad Max IV, but without Mel Gibson. "Though I think there will be another Mad Max; the time has gone where Mel can be in it. I think the last opportunity was about four years ago and you know the character's lean and hungry. He was twenty one when he first played Mad Max and he's now in his fifties Also I think he's much more interested in what's happening behind camera than in front. It needs a lean and hungry actor and he's not into acting so much anymore and I think he just loves producing, writing and directing. But I think if fates allow there will be another Mad Max though it is certainly two films away for me, but the time's gone when Mel can run around the wasteland anymore."

For Dr Miller, it seems that Max fans can rejoice knowing that the cult character he helped created three decades ago remains alive and well in the director's seasoned imagination."

- Exclusive Interview: George Miller "Happy Feet"

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Video on Miller briefly commenting MAD MAX 4

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In Focus Magazine interview with Miller:

1998’s “Babe: Pig in the City” was, until this year, Miller’s last foray behind the camera. The intervening years weren’t idly spent. He devoted years to planning a fourth “Mad Max” film that was derailed by both the Iraq war and the collapse of the American dollar. And then, finally, he turned his camera toward Antarctica — with the computer-animated penguin comedy/musical/epic “Happy Feet.”

IF: I’d love to ask you some questions about “Mad Max 4: Fury Road.” First of all: Is there going to be a “Mad Max 4”?

GM: Well, there almost was. That’s why it took so long for me to make a film. We would need probably about 10 weeks of shooting; we were in Namibia, Africa, and we were about to start shooting — and that’s when the war started. And at that point, the American dollar, against the currencies we were working with — the Australian dollar and the South African rand — crashed 20 percent, and we lost a lot of our budget. And besides, we couldn’t get insurance, and we couldn’t get our vehicles transported on the container ships.

“Mad Max 4” is so prepared, there seems to be a lot of momentum for it to get done. Right now, I’ve got another, smaller film to do, and then we’ll gear up and do “Mad Max” again. In what form and so on, I don’t know. But it hasn’t gotten stale in the meantime, and I’m very very keen to do it. It seems like there’s the appetite out there. That’s about all I can say at the moment. I’m finishing “Happy Feet” and preparing to do the next script while we gear up for that. I think the short answer is: If we have fair weather, we should get there. But being two films away, I just hate to put down that anything will happen. But there’s a decent probability it will happen.

IF: The “blood for oil” aspects of “The Road Warrior” have achieved a certain … potency in the past decade and change. Is the world catching up with your pessimistic vision?

GM:I must say, it feels like it. There have been a number of documentaries that have referred to “Road Warrior” and the oil wars — apocalyptic visions and stuff. I’d rather see it up on a screen as a fantasy rather than the reality we’re seeing right now. It’s a little soul-destroying, isn’t it? “The Road Warrior,” at least, ends in hope — not necessarily for that one individual, but for the community. That’s the only reason to keep going — the hope that things can improve. And then it’s a question about what we can do, individually, to make that happen.

IF: A story in Daily Variety dated Dec. 10, 2002 reported that Mel Gibson had signed on for a fourth “Mad Max” movie. Does that mean the rumors about “Mad Max 4” being a prequel — focusing on Max’s days in the Main Force Patrol — were always patently false?

GM: Yeah. Yeah, they are.

Well, the marketing department's gonna have to work hard on the ads...

"MAD MAX 4... from the director of Happy Feet!"

(Nah, just doesn't cut it.)

I knew it. John Powell, composer of HAPPY FEET speaks out at AICN.

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SK: Before we run out of time I want to be sure to talk a little bit about your latest film HAPPY FEET (2006). One of the things that I’ve heard is that your responsibilities in this film went well far and beyond that of just being the underscore composer for the film. Can you elaborate more on how you were involved with this film?

JP: It started four years ago. I met with George Miller and he basically said ‘Look, I think this is a musical but I’m not sure. I can’t see how we can have one person making the music for the scenes where people are singing and dancing and another person doing the score. I think it’s all got to come out of one brain.’ So he actually hired me for this film and at the same time he also hired me for MAD MAX 4. He was due to be making them virtually simultaneously. I think he thought that every time he flew me down to Australia he could get half of the cost on one film and half of the cost on the other. It was a very pragmatic decision. Obviously, I was delighted. I couldn’t actually believe that I got the call to meet him. I’ve always loved his films. I loved every film that he’s ever done. I love the music in all of his films as well. I always thought he was an incredibly musical director.

SK: What’s the status now on MAD MAX 4? Is he still on schedule to make it?

JP: You know, I don’t know. I think so. I think George is just coming out of what was an incredibly hard process for him. He took this film on not knowing how he was going to make it and he had to figure out how to make it. It’s not like any animation film you’ve seen. It’s not produced or directed the same way. A large part of it is that it’s a live action director making an animation movie.

He probably just wants to have a sit down for a little while. I know he wants to make it. The script is incredible! I’ve read it. I hope it’s sooner rather than later but at the same time I think he needs a rest before we can ask him that question.

SK: Are you still officially on board to score MAD MAX 4?

JP: You’re never really “official” but having been hired for it four years ago and then getting to the end of HAPPY FEET…I think George enjoyed the process of making the music. I think he felt that I was a collaborator who was almost worthy of him. I’d hope that he would come back to me with the idea of doing MAD MAX 4 when he does it.

I know this board is dead, and I'm the only one here, but I have to say this: MAD MAX 4 ROCKED!

It finally happened, and George Miller hasn't lost his touch. God, that movie was fucking awesome.

I'm still here too...

Awesome.