Fury Road will either be a blockbuster or a bomb.

[MWFV8]

Exactly. Miller is directing. It's his baby.

It's not though. It's the studio's. The control directors have over big-budget movie production is massively overstated.

[NuffTorque]

On You Tube there is a 'making of' show about Blade Runner. In it they discuss how the studio over ruled Ridley Scott on the final cut - the voice over and the happy ending. The directors cut years later was the movie Ridley had envisioned, but the studio money men got their way.

It would be the same here, the money men will be running the show, not George.

[banistersmind]

I imagine I am one of those rare Mad Max fans who actually liked Thunderdome and who could see that film in the context of the original trilogy. As a character study the films clearly articulate a strong character arc in Max Rockatansky that begins with the death of his wife and son in the first film. His grief, loss of humanity, his desire for vengeance. All of these are studied beautifully throughout the latter third of the original film and throughout Mad Max 2. We see the spark of something aproximating humanity by the end of the sequel - in that wry smile Max and the Gyro Captain exchange by the wreck of the rig. But it is to Thunderdome where we see Max come full circle. It is through his interaction the lost children that Max regains his humanity and, for me, it is best captured in one of the final scenes - when Max pulls out from behind the crop duster, draws up along side them and looks across at the tribe, the pilot and Master. Max sits tall in his seat, his expression is proud...almost. There is wisdom and a sense of having gone full circle. His grief and vengeance are gone. There is only humanity.

Now - how this relates to Fury Road?

I read that FR will be an interquel - an enclosed story between the events of MM1 & MM2. Unless Miller has continued to study the ramifications of Max's loss and grief, placing them in context with the existing canon, then I can't see how FR can be anything but a failure. I never wanted to see an interquel. I always wanted to know if Max ever made it to the Sydney after the end of Thunderdome. Years ago, I actually wrote a fan fiction piece in which Max finds his way out of the wasteland and returns to Melbourne where a civilized remnant are attempting to rebuild society. Predictably, a group of marauders from the wastes threaten their survival but in my vision, Max is reunited with some of his former MFP colleagues and together, they become the protectors of this fragile civilization. Grand ideas I know but that's the Mad Max story I wanted to see.

...& yes, the Interceptor made a come back.

[DGSimo]

Fury Road does not take place between MM1 and MM2. Let's just quickly kill that and yes I know it's a rumor circulating for a while but it's simply not true.

Yes I really like Thunderdome too. The Road Warrior and Thunderdome were the movies I saw first and grew up with as a kid and didn't actually watch the first film until many years later in to my teens and honestly to this day I re-watch TRW and BTD many times but just can't sit through the first film again.

[rustycarr]

Young Max, dog is back, Bob is back, knee brace
, shoulder pad, one sleeve jacket, its either
Mad Max 1.5 or a reboot, my guess is the first.
It will be a good stand alone movie for new fans
And it will fill in the gaps for fans of the original
movies.

[DGSimo]

Reboot. Or more or less a spiritual sequel to the previous movies but nothing directly ties in from that trilogy to Fury Road.

[Bad cop]

Enough of this reboot business. I know several cast members have stated the film is a reboot, but as I have said numerous times I refuse to accept that (can you blame me). Even if it isn't officially a sequel, I just hope that the continuity carries out in a way that would allow for fans to accept as a sequel or intrequel.

[BRC1974]

I thought the Dog and BoB were only going to appear in flashbacks. Judging by the look of most of the trucks and vehicles and the way Immortan Joe appears it looks like it's set long after Mad Max 2.

[banistersmind]

Fury Road does not take place between MM1 and MM2. Let's just quickly kill that and yes I know it's a rumor circulating for a while but it's simply not true.

Yes I really like Thunderdome too. The Road Warrior and Thunderdome were the movies I saw first and grew up with as a kid and didn't actually watch the first film until many years later in to my teens and honestly to this day I re-watch TRW and BTD many times but just can't sit through the first film again.

The Wikipedia entry specifically states that the plot for FR places it between the events of MM1 & MM2. Now I know that one can't take Wikipedia as gospel but, given that no one, officially, has refuted this, one can only assume it to be correct. The other factor to take into account is the game trailers. Now unless they've seriously ret-conned the timeline for Max then again, I can only assume that Miller has decided to open this new account in the post MM1 canon.

[Mad Max RW]

Wikipedia isn't reliable at all. For years they had Mel Gibson incorrectly listed in the credits as a "Drifter" until George Miller himself said otherwise a couple months ago.

The Mad Max game developers said in a number of interviews it's not attached to the movies. Fury Road, the Mad Max game, and the original Mad Max trilogy are each their own world or "alternate universe".