SUBMITTED BY Timbo

September 23, 2003 — According to IMDB Studio Brief, drawing conclusions from a report in Variety, Mad Max: Fury Road is dead in the water:

Prospects of Mel Gibson returning to the screen in his Mad Max persona faded today (Tuesday) when Daily Variety reported that the actor is in talks with Warner Bros. to star in Under and Alone, about an ATF undercover agent who infiltrated a motorcycle gang. Gibson had originally intended to shoot Mad Max: Fury Road in the southern Africa country of Namibia in May but halted preproduction citing security concerns following the outbreak of war with Iraq. Production offices in Swakopmund were shut down, dozens of contracts and leases for homes, apartments, car rentals, and caterers were canceled, and sets built for the $100-million movie were warehoused. Gibson later plunged into post-production of his biblical film The Passion, seemingly snuffing out the fire on the back burner, where the Mad Max feature had been placed. It had been reported earlier that Gibson decided to shoot the film in Namibia because George Lucas had booked all available studio space at Fox Studios in Australia to shoot Star Wars: Episode 3. Lucas completed principal production there last week.