Another Miller Interview on Fury Road.

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March 15, 2007 08:44am NEWS.COM
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MAD Max could be coming back, but don't expect Mel Gibson to reprise his role in the classic Australian movie, says director George Miller.Miller made his name with the post-apocalyptic vision of Mad Max, made in 1979, and its sequels, Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.



Now, fresh from winning an Oscar for his animated feature Happy Feet, Miller is planning a fourth instalment of Mad Max, with its murderous bikie gangs and bandits roaming the Australian outback.



Miller believes the star of the trilogy, Mel Gibson, is now too old and focused on his own films to want to again portray the lead character of "Mad" Max Rockatansky.



Instead, Miller hopes to secure a rising young star for the role.



The fourth Mad Max movie was in development before Miller took on directing Happy Feet, and now he's turning back to the project.



"I have a few projects in the pipeline including an animation ... but I do want to make another Mad Max movie and get stuck back into that," the 62-year-old said in Sydney.



"It (the lead) won't be Mel. He was 21 when he made the first one, now he's a lot older and his passion is for film making and directing.



"I don't think he is into acting and I don't think he would be interested in being involved at all."



The Sydney-based filmmaker said he had managed to "come back down to earth" following his Oscar win, thanks to constructive advice from Hollywood friends including Australians Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.



"I was warned not to inhale too much because you can take it a little too seriously," he said.



"We didn't expect to win, but it was a good excuse to drink, party and to act like teenagers again."



Miller was a special guest at the 2007 Aurora film maker initiative, announcing four new feature film scripts which will be workshopped and eventually adapted to the big screen.



The initiative is an intensive script development program run by the New South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO).



One of the scripts chosen was Mr Darwin's Shooter, the story about a friendship between a boy and a young Charles Darwin, which will be directed by acclaimed director Fred Schepisi.



"It's a very significant initiative for film makers, particularly in the case of Fred Schepisi, who have significant international careers and are desperate to make films back home," Miller said.



Three other films, Six Weeks To Heaven, Grace and Eleven Months, were also selected.
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