We reported on this last week, but we didn’t dare believe it at the time. Now it seems official: Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) and Charlize Theron both seem to be on board for “Mad Max: Fury Road,” George Miller’s resurrection of the post-apocalyptic franchise that started his career.
Both trade papers are reporting the story, but differ on a number of key details. The Hollywood Reporter suggests that both actors are in negotiations, while Variety seems to think that the ink is dry, but they both agree that Theron will play the unnamed female lead (well, she’s not going to play the male lead, is she?). Similarly, there’s a difference in opinion on what Hardy’s role entails – THR says that, if he signs, the actor will take over Mel Gibson’s role, while Variety quotes Miller, regarding the role of Max Rockatansky, that “It could be Mel, it could be anyone.”
Still, despite the fudging of the language, we’re pretty sure that Hardy will be taking the central role, beating out the rumored likes of “The Hurt Locker”‘s Jeremy Renner, and rent-an-action-star Sam Worthington. Quite frankly, we’re psyched by this. It’s easily forgotten that Miller has only made 7 1/4 movies (including his segment of “The Twilight Zone: The Movie”) in a 30 year career, and he has an unusually high hit rate, if we choose to ignore his most recent, “Happy Feet.” Theron rarely gives a bad performance, and mostly gives sensational ones, while Hardy is one of the most exciting actors out there, as shown by his turn in “Bronson,” which we’ll stop banging on about when someone gives him an Oscar nomination.
Pre-production is underway, and filming will kick off next year. In the never-ending cycle of franchise renewal, “Mad Max” is one we’re happy to see renewed, particularly considering the relative consistency of previous entries in the series. Hopefully, the rest of the cast will live up to the caliber of these announcements.