George Miller Tagged Articles at Cinematical

After weeks of breathless speculation as to who would be riding George Miller's bleak highways of Mad Max: Fury Road, there's been a conformation. Variety reports that Charlize Theron has boarded the film, but that it'll be Tom Hardy (Bronson) who takes over the coveted lead. The script is being kept under tight wraps, so we still don't know if Mad Max: Fury Road will be a reboot or a sequel. Speculation has been rampant for more than twenty years, and as is the case with so many revived franchises, we'll probably end up being terribly wrong. Hopefully for the better.

So, we only know that Hardy is playing "the male lead. Will it be the Mad Max, made so iconic by Mel Gibson? Or will Max have taken on some kind of mythological, Robin Hood like status in the barren wasteland, and someone simply takes on the title? It could go either way (but hopefully not the way of Kevin Costner's The Postman), and I'm excited that Hardy has the part. He's been one of those actors lurking under The Really Big Time, and this could be the film that pushes him into stardom.

Theron's role might be the biggest and coolest surprise. She's a big enough name that I can't believe she'll be shoved into a corner as The Wife of Mad Max. Will she be a post-apocalyptic warrior too? I hope so. With so few remnants of humanity left, you need all the badasses you can get. It would be nice to see that reflected beyond Tina Turner.

It remains to be seen what Mad Max fans will think, but the businesses of Australia are excited that work on Mad Max 4: Fury Road will begin immediately, according to a story today in the Daily Telegraph. There is no confirmation as to who will be starring in the film, but it will most likely not be Mel Gibson. The likeliest candidate as of now is Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) (not Tom Hardy), with Charlize Theron as the leading lady. Original Mad Max director George Miller -- who most recently gave us Happy Feet -- will once again helm.

Either way, the locals are thrilled. Some of the locations used on the previous three films, Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (a.k.a. The Road Warrior) (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), have become local attractions. The owner of one such attraction, the Silverton Hotel, said, (insert Australian accent here): "This is bloody huge. Absolutely magnificent. Silverton depends on the film industry, it survives on the film industry, and if Mad Max is going to be filmed here it's going to be just tremendous."

The production is expected to provide more than 500 local jobs and funnel tens of millions of dollars into the local economy. Pre-production begins immediately, with shooting scheduled to begin next year.

UPDATE: Watch a video after the jump of director George Miller introducing some of the vehicles being used in the new Mad Max movie, as well as addressing some of the casting rumors. According to the man himself, nothing is definitive yet and he still has a lot more people to see.

It's a quiet day (so far) on the Interwebs, which has led to everyone noticing and buzzing about a great little rumor that Ain't It Cool News discovered thanks to The Modesto Bee. The Bee caught up with up and comer Jeremy Renner (currently turning heads in the much buzzed about The Hurt Locker), and he revealed that he was trying to get behind the wheel of a famous black Interceptor. "I'm also fighting to do the new Mad Max film with George Miller. That might be next summer. I'm screen-testing and meeting George Miller."

A screen test is a long way from a casting announcement (just think about who all screen tested for The Green Lantern), but it's the first news to come out of the long delayed Max Max reboot / remake project in some time. Obviously, Renner is being vague enough that he might not even be referring to trying out for the part of Mr. Rockatansky, but come on. If you name drop Mad Max, you're trying out for Max, which suggests this will be a straight up remake.

Read the rest at SciFi Squad

Advance word on the amazing action in George Miller's The Road Warrior in 1982 was amazingly strong, even without Internet movie sites. When The Road Warrior did rampage on American movie screens, lo, the destructive path was indeed very broad and thrilling, unsuspecting audiences collectively dropped their jaws, and Mel Gibson was firmly cemented as an "A" list star.

The Road Warrior was, of course, a sequel to Miller's Mad Max, also starring Gibson, but that amazing adrenaline-fueled movie was relegated to drive-ins and Gibson's voice, deemed "too Australian," was ignominiously dubbed into "American" by another actor. The third movie in the series, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, was a bit of a letdown, though it definitely had its moments, and is probably best remembered for Tina Turner's appearance. Gibson went on to a huge career for many years, while director Miller moved on to family-friendly fare like Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet.

You'd think there wouldn't be a ton of stuff to catch you post-Turkey blokes up with, but it's the exact opposite. So here's some stuff(ing) and things to skim over today:

-- Folks are going bonkers today over news in Production Weekly that the much-anticipated (and kinda secretive) Tron sequel has changed its title to TRZ in order to trick young kids into thinking MTV has adapted their now-retired TRL for the big screen. Okay, that's not the real reason ... but do we really need to know the real reason? TRZ? Here's the snippet of plot synopsis they provided: "After being transported into the surreal landscape of a mainframe computer to destroy an intruder, a programmer finds himself allied with the leader of a rebellion against a corrupt cyber-entity." According to Disney, an official title for the Tron sequel is not set yet.

-- George Miller finally went on the record and told a talk show in Sydney that he's officially off Justice League. He's done. That's it. Over. Dark Horizons says Miller thinks the film will be recast when (and if) it happens because "the studios seem to want bigger stars in their superhero movies now." We wonder why?

-- According to Shock, a source tells them Rob Zombie will indeed return to direct Halloween 2, the follow-up to his successful (at the box office) reboot of the franchise, titled Halloween. Additionally, the site claims Halloween 2 will begin shooting as early as this March.

-- Why do all the Nazi flicks come out during the holidays? And how do you sell them?

-- Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law has been arrested for the deaths of the actress/singer's mother, brother and nephew, according to CBS News.

After the jump: First looks at Whip It and Youth in Revolt, more on Chef and a very cool short film contest.

It looks like both Warner Bros. and Brad Pitt can't get enough of Homer.

First, we got The Iliad morphed into Troy, with Pitt playing Achilles. Now Variety reports that Pitt is teaming up with Warner Bros. once again to make Homer's next epic, The Odyssey -- with George Miller adapting. Now you might wonder how Pitt can continue on when the story moves over to Sean Bean's Odysseus. First -- Pitt is on-board as producer. Second -- the hope is that Pitt will take over the role. (I guess Boromir isn't a big enough draw.)

But that's not all they're doing to jazz the story up -- their "intention is to transfer the tale to a futuristic setting in outer space." Um, 2001, anyone? If things work out, the plan is to get Miller to also direct the film, with Pitt journeying through space in whatever fashion Miller dreams up.

As someone who was quite disappointed with the first attempt in 2004, this just seems like grasping at straws -- stretching for a better reception while picking up on classic motifs like Kubrick. That being said, I adore Miller's work on Twilight Zone (I still get creeped out looking at plane wings) and would be interested to see what he can bring to the project. Thoughts?

• Lorenzo Odone (1978-2008) - ALD Patient - His story inspired the film Lorenzo's Oil, in which he was portrayed by child actor Zack O'Malley Greenburg and others. He died May 30 in Fairfax, Virginia. (Washington Post)

• Cornell Capa (1918-2008) - Photojournalist - Founder and first director of NYC's International Center of Photography. He was also a still photographer on the set of The Misfits. He died of Parkinson's disease May 23, in New York City. (AP)
• Alexander Courage (1919-2008) - Composer - Oscar-nominated for co-scoring Doctor Dolittle and The Pleasure Seekers (both with Lionel Newman) and best known for composing the original Star Trek theme. He also wrote original music for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Arthur Penn's The Left Handed Gun and André de Toth's Day of the Outlaws. As an orchestrator, he worked on Singin' in the Rain, Oklahoma!, Show Boat, Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Guys and Dolls, The Band Wagon, Funny Face, Porgy and Bess, Gigi, The Big Country, Hello, Dolly!, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Legend, Basic Instinct, Jurassic Park, Hook, L.A. Confidential, The Mummy, Mulan and many, many other films. He died May 15 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Variety)
• Bo Diddley (1928-2008) - Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist - Blues and Rock legend whose songs "Who Do You Love?" and "Mannish Boy" have appeared on multiple movie soundtracks. He also appears in Trading Places, Blues Brothers 2000, Rockula, Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! and a number of documentaries, including D.A. Pennebaker's short Keep on Rockin' and Taylor Hackford's Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. For info on his death, see Monika's full post.

I'm not sure if there are still people who still don't believe that Justice League: Mortal is dead, but here's another nail in the much-hammered coffin for you: Adam Brody talked to Empire, and it may interest you to know that even those on board were no more informed than you or I. I find it more funny than interesting -- scary, too, because directors and producers make way more money than I do, and should be much more organized.

Apparently, none of the actors were ever officially let go or told anything, and Brody has no idea whether or not the film will ever be made. He says, "Actually, I probably shouldn't be commenting on it, but who cares. I don't really know – I still feel like an outsider on that somehow. I know there was a tax credit thing and I know that the strike was a hindrance. Also, you've got Batman coming out and Singer wants to do another Superman. This is only speculation on my part, I have no inside knowledge of this, but, as a fan, I think there's controversy about going off and trying to [show a different Superman and Batman] ... I think maybe it will still happen, but I truly don't know any more than you do".