'Mad Max' sequel sputters

Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 3:07 PM Central

by John Couture

Mel Gibson was all ready to start filming Fury Road, the latest film in the Mad Max franchise, and then, George W. Bush invaded Iraq and put a halt to the movie. Even though pre-production was nearly done, Mel didn't feel that filming in the south African country Namibia would be safe or prudent with a war being waged close by.

The original hope was to pick up the production when things cooled off, but word has it that Mel is turning his sights to other projects. Considering that Max has survived the apocalypse, you would surely think that this little bump in the road won't cause him much grief.