In a new interview, director George Miller has confirmed a Mad Max 6 script exists – and that he’s got no plans to make it any time soon…
Mad Max fans, turn off your engines! Take the key out of the ignition! Engine idling generates 107,000 tonnes of CO2 each year!
George Miller has been chatting to Vulture, and it seems the Fury Road director is as enthused about his job as ever. Among the headlines generated from the interview are two slightly conflicting narratives: one that a Mad Max sequel is on the way, another that we shouldn’t expect it any time soon.
“There’s lots of stories,” he said when asked about his upcoming projects.
“Indeed, one of them is a Mad Max. It is not something I would do next, because there’s two things I’m keen to do next.
“But if for whatever reason the planets align, you can never tell. Too often, you’re lining up to do a movie and then something happens. Some things fall into place and some don’t, so all I can say is we’ll see.”
It’s hardly the first time a new installment in the franchise has been floated. Ahead of the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga last year, Miller was reportedly working on a sequel to that film, provisionally titled The Wastleland, set before the events of Fury Road.
Unfortunately, the lacklustre (in Hollywood accounting terms – it still made $174m) box office of his most recent flick seems to have stalled that idea somewhat. The modern Max himself, Tom Hardy, told Forbes last June that “I don’t think that’s happening”. As Warner Bros expresses increasing concern at the price point of its recent film slate, it seems another $168m action blockbuster would be pretty far from the top of its wish list.
Still, Miller confirmed in the same interview that a script for a new entry has been written, which makes Mad Max 6 slightly more likely than my idea for an Astrosaurs movie, which has no script (or writer, producer, director or caterer attached). With the infamously intensive filming process of Fury Road and Furiosa, however, getting a script together would seem to be the easy part. Give us a call when you’re driving a monster truck into the Australian desert again, George (please do not use phones while driving).
