MEL DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY MAX AGAIN…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — George Miller
scubachicken7 — 18 years ago(November 18, 2007 04:11 AM)
Get it through your heads people! Half of you act like the fact that Mel won't be in "Mad Max IV: Fury Road" is George Miller's fault and that George has decided to exclude him. THAT'S NOT THE CASE! Mel has turned it down. Shortly after production fell apart a few years ago, Mel decided that if it ever got going again then it would happen without him. For whatever reason, Mel does not feel the desire nor the ability to portray the role again and has stepped down.
Why berate George Miller for something that isn't even his fault? He's been wanting to make this film for almost a decade, so why shouldn't he push onward with it regardless of the fact that Gibson has changed his mind and doesn't want to do it anymore? Especially since George sees this project as the start of a potential second trilogy of Mad Max films? If Mel changes his mind and decides to star in the film, then I doubt George would say no. Sadly, I don't think that is going to happen. Mel seems much more interested in directing than acting these days and there's nothing wrong with that.
Basically, I'm just tired of people getting on here and bitching about how "George Miller is ruining the franchise!" and "Why isn't Mel going to be Max?". Mel Gibson will not be returning to the role of "Mad" Max Rockatansky for one reason and one reason only: By his own choice. Mel has CHOSEN not to return. If you want to start complaining to someone about it, head over to the Mel Gibson board and voice your opinion. He's the one you should direct your comments and petitions at, not George Miller. Go show Mel how much his being in the role means to you and how much you want to see him in this film. Quit blaming George for it though, 'cause it isn't his fault. -
Jawsphobia — 18 years ago(March 08, 2008 08:25 PM)
The audience does not want to see another Mad Max without him.
Frankly, while it is interesting to revisit a character and
his alter ego years later and speculate on what may have happened
to him in the world of Mad Max, it would be deadly boring to
simply re-populate that world with new actors.
Justice League of America, for example, has a cast that leaves me
saying ho-hum! There are so many reasons that movie will
fall apart.
If Mel doesn't want to play Max, simply retire the character
or do it animated.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
(Worth discussing.) -
crumpled — 11 years ago(December 10, 2014 01:35 PM)
I would very much prefer a new Mad Max without Mel Gibson. So I guess this movie is more for me, than for you. Mel Gibson is a tool, a bad actor, not to mention too old for the part (if it's going to be an action movie, which it is).
You don't speak for everyone. I wouldn't have even commented if it weren't for your assertion of what the audience wants to see. I don't think you really know. -
biolumen — 17 years ago(May 12, 2008 01:15 AM)
if this actually IS a part 4 in the series
Miller already has a script and has done the storyboards for a
sequel
. He's been working on it for years. If another Mad Max movie is going to be made, it's going to be
that
movie and no other.
From what I understand it was Miller who decided (allegedly) not to cast Mel. He stated he felt Gibson was "too old", and he stated it bluntly.
My take on it is that Miller just assumed at the time that Mel wasn't interested anymore, having at that point foregone acting gigs for directing his own movies. Back in 2003 when Mad Max 4 was about to film, Mel was attached to the movie, but just barely. Miller had said that Mel almost grudgingly agreed to do it. That was 5 years ago and Miller probably now feels Mel is definitely not interested anymore.
But things have changed recently. Now comes word that16d0 Mel is back as an actor. If Mel is agreeable to returning as Max, I believe Miller would say yes. He would be a damn fool not to. In addition, the movie Miller has in mind would cost well over $100 million, maybe up to $150 million. It had originally been geared for a Summer tentpole for the studio. I'm sure Warners would push strongly for Mel's return (if that's an option) before dumping that kind of money into it. There's far more risk if Miller casts a relative unknown as Max, which he's probably going to do if Mel says no.
Now, if Miller really feels that Mel is "too old", that might be true for the movie Miller currently envisions, but the movie can be tweaked to accomidate Mels age. I don't think much has to be done anyway because the post-apocalyptic world would make anyone age pretty fast. -
imadisturbed1 — 17 years ago(August 16, 2008 09:05 PM)
haha, funny story..Mel Gibson was born in New York, so, Max TECHNICALLY was never played by an Australian. He doesn't even have his accent anymore, it is 1c84completely gone.
I am looking for a dare-to-be-great situation- Lloyd Dobbler -
BarrisDarkly — 17 years ago(December 28, 2008 12:16 PM)
I personally don't care whose fault it is. Without Mel, it's just not Mad Max, and I'm not at all interested in Fury Road if Mel is not in it. If that's Mel's choice so be it. If it's George Miller's decision, well, that's alright too. Either way, I don't really care, if we get someone like Shia Labeouf (spell it wrong? I don't care) to play Max Rockatansky, or anyone who isn't Mel, then I just won't see it.
I'm gonna kill you all kinds a' dead. -
Jawsphobia — 17 years ago(January 11, 2009 03:30 AM)
I never blamed George Miller for that issue. Mel was listed as on that project long after The Passion hit theaters. It seemed like the reasonable follow-up, going from serious to Max territory. But I still think Mel should climb back into the car and take the on-ramp to Fury Road.
THAT's the movie I'd like to see, old rickety survivor Max, not some young whipper snapper going through the motions. Mel is a big part of that brand for me anyway. Mel needs to shake his head.
It's too bad Passion made so much money.
I'm just not excited about The Odyssy either. How generic can you be.
But the video game of Fury Road is likely a better bet than a film with a new actor. Recasting Max would just be a hollow exercise.
"X"
http://jawsphobia.blogspot.com/ -
Jawsphobia — 13 years ago(September 03, 2012 05:54 PM)
Gibson had Fury Road on his imdb acting page in 2004 and I was watching carefully around the time The Passion came out. Production offices were eventually closed and the staff dismissed, but the script and production had been ready to go with Mel at that time, yes. It is a big shame that version didn't happen. It would have been good for Australia and would have happened before all the flooding and so on. Revisionism says it was stopped because "there was a war on" but big movies like the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix flicks were being made there and films continued despite the ongoing wars. Also, the invasion of Iraq was in 2003, but the Fury Road project was still coming together and ready to go in 2004. I suspect that Mel was absorbed in the aftermath of The Passion, its financial windfall, and his return2000 to directing. A Mad Max follow-up would have been good to keep him accessible.
I do wonder how much he is involved now, with Icon supposedly doing the Tom hardy version. I know he has given his blessing. Maybe it is just a contractual connection.
http://www.twitter.com/Jawsphobia -
biolumen — 13 years ago(September 08, 2012 10:11 PM)
It would have been good for Australia and would have happened before all the flooding and so on. Revisionism says it was stopped because "there was a war on" but big movies like the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix flicks were being made there and films continued despite the ongoing wars.
You've mis-remembered the facts. If you were watching the IMDb page carefully back in 2003/4, you would have known that just like it is today, that movie was going to film in Namibia. Miller said at the time it was something to do with the terrain in Broken Hill and other areas being incompatable for the vehicles being built (though that didn't stop him from trying to film it in Australia this time around). The Iraq War caused problems with the movement of cars and equipment, security for hundreds of crew members, problems with insurance and completion bonding, and the worsening of monetary exchange rates that drove the cost of the film too high.