‘Mad Max’ creator: Why I cut Mel Gibson from ‘Fury Road’

Director George Miller, Tom Hardy and Mel Gibson arrive at the premiere of "Mad Max: Fury Road" on May 7 in Hollywood.Photo: WireImage It may have been the most fortuitous street-crossing since The Beatles’ “Abbey Road.” Back in 1998, director George Miller was walking across a Los Angeles intersection when an idea for a new “Mad Max” film struck him. By the time he’d reached the middle of the street, he had a kernel of a story. And by the time he reached the other side, he swore to himself he’d abandon it. He’d already made three movies set in that universe — 1979’s “Mad Max,” 1981’s “The Road Warrior” and 1985’s “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” — and Miller thought he’d said all he had to say about the dust-choked, post-apocalyptic...

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The New Mad Max: Fury Road Trailer Is Explosive, Violent And Crazier Than You'd Imagine

"My world is fire and blood." After the roar of a car engine, these are the words used to re-introduce us to the road warrior known as Max (played in a new film by the vicious Tom Hardy). A new Mad Max: Fury Road clip just dropped. Rev it up below:  "Everybody’s gone out of their mind." Yes, it certainly looks that way as we get out first return trip to George Miller’s post-apocalyptic, road-rage-driven universe last seen in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The faces might be different – with Tom Hardy subbing in for a much older Mel Gibson at this point – but the physicality and the muscle-car madness that has made the Road Warrior series so memorable seem to be dialed up to extreme levels. More than anything,...

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Mel Gibson May Get His Own Taken, Titled Blood Father

Mel Gibson is back! Maybe! Possibly! Gibson's had a pretty bad decade, all things considered. Ten years ago, he set the industry aflame with The Passion of The Christ, and it's been downhill since. Now the guy's basically un-hirable, and no one wants to work with him. Can he turn it around with a collaboration with a filmmaker from abroad? Wouldn't it be best if, like other actors, he could just get a Taken?Gibson is in talks to star in the awesomely-titled Blood Father, according to Deadline. Gibson would play an ex-con who tries to protect his 16 year old daughter from drug dealers. That's some seedy offspring there, Mad Max! The script comes from Peter Craig, who previously wrote The Town, and it is coming together...

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Why Mel Gibson Isn't In Mad Max: Fury Road

Though the last Mad Max movie opened back in 1985, Mel Gibson is still synonymous with the franchise. He played the leading role of Mad Max Rockatansky in the 1979 original, the sequel in 1981 and the third installment Beyond Thunderdome. With Fury Road coming out later this year, Tom Hardy of Bane fame is replacing Gibson in the role and the original actor won’t be popping up in any sort of capacity. But he could have, and he almost did.Warner Bros. screened exclusive footage of Mad Max: Fury Road at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, after which time The Huffington Post interviewed its director, George Miller. In speaking to whether there were some plans to include Gibson...

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Why you won't see Mel Gibson in the new 'Mad Max' movie

Before he starred in "Mad Max" in 1979, Mel Gibson was unknown to the rest of the world.  Then, "Mad Max" became a box-office smash. It grossed $100 million worldwide and held the Guinness World Record for most profitable movie of all time for nearly two decades. After that, Gibson was on his way to international stardom. He reprised his role as the titular Max Rockatansky two more times in sequels "The Road Warrior" (1981) and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (1985).  So for some fans of the series, it may have been a little bit of a surprise that he won't be making an appearance in the latest sequel "Mad Max: Fury Road." The film itself took nearly 17 years to get made. Besides geographical and weather-related...

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Mel Gibson Biography

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish descent. Mel and his family moved to Australia in the late 1960s, settling in New South Wales, where Mel's paternal grandmother, contralto opera singer Eva Mylott, was born. After high school, Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside future film thespians Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in a few TV shows. Eventually, he was chosen...

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