The original star of the franchise, Mel Gibson, was supposed to play Max in the upcoming film, "Mad Max: Fury Road" and not Tom Hardy of "The Dark Knight Rises" fame. The revelation came from the movie's director George Miller, while talking about his fourth venture of post-apocalyptic series.
"Then 9/11 happened, the American dollar collapsed against the Australian dollar and the budget ballooned," explains Miller, Toronto Sun reported. "By the time we got going again Mel had all that ... turbulence in his life, and besides, the film wasn't about an older Mad Max."
Original "Mad Max" came in 1979 which was about a leather-clad 23-year-old highway cop out to avenge the murders of his wife and son. The movie was followed by dual post-apocalyptic sequels, "Mad Max: The Road Warrior" in 1981 and "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" in 1985. While the former movie showed roaming gangs of looters killing each other for petrol, the later release was about the rescue of children who were banished from a desert town by the evil queen, played by a fierce actress,Tina Turner.
The fourth sequel was supposed to come in 2001 with Gibson reprising his character. It turned out that the movie got delayed multiple times and later Miller wanted a younger actor to play the iconic role. That is when the 22-year-old star of "Warrior" came in picture, who was roped in to play the role of Max.
The 70-year-old award winning director disclosed that first time he met Hardy, he found a striking similarity between the two actors. He also slammed the rumours that Gibson has a cameo role in the movie.
The upcoming flick shows Max's encounter with Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron leading a group of women fleeing from one of the Wasteland's warlords. Theron, who has a brutish appearance in the movie, will be seen fitted with a mechanical arm of 10 pounds.
The film is actually a two-hour chase, as the warlord's forces chase Furiosa and Max across the Australian desert, Newsday reported. The movie will be released on May 14 and is expected to be the first in a possible trilogy. Check out the trailer here.