‘Mad Max’ Director Readies for Fifth Installment in ‘Addictive’ Series 

Australian director George Miller speaks as he receives CinemaCon International Filmmaker of the Year Award at International Day Programming during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners at Caesars Palace on April 8, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
Australian director George Miller speaks as he receives CinemaCon International Filmmaker of the Year Award at International Day Programming during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners at Caesars Palace on April 8, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
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‘Mad Max’ Director Readies for Fifth Installment in ‘Addictive’ Series 

Australian director George Miller speaks as he receives CinemaCon International Filmmaker of the Year Award at International Day Programming during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners at Caesars Palace on April 8, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
Australian director George Miller speaks as he receives CinemaCon International Filmmaker of the Year Award at International Day Programming during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners at Caesars Palace on April 8, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)

Australian director George Miller described his "Mad Max" series as "addictive" on Monday as he prepares to premiere the fifth film set in its high-octane, post-apocalyptic world with the highly anticipated "Furiosa."

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," out late May, is an origin story for the tough female warrior first played by Charlize Theron in 2015's Oscar-winning blockbuster "Mad Max: Fury Road."

The younger Furiosa will be portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, best known to wider audiences from the hit Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit."

The movie will receive a glitzy world premiere at the Cannes film festival early next month, but Miller shared a few early details about the prequel at the CinemaCon movie theater convention in Las Vegas on Monday.

Miller said the idea stemmed from the intense preparations that went into "Fury Road," for which he sketched out detailed childhoods and journeys for each character in order to help actors and crew navigate the world.

"We had to understand everything about what we see on the screen -- not only the backstory of every character, but every prop, every vehicle, every gesture," said Miller.

When "Fury Road" was a hit, grossing $380 million and winning six Oscars, Miller realized that the movie's backstory was "a rich story to tell" in its own right.

In the new plot, young Furiosa has been kidnapped from her home, and gets caught up in a battle between Immortan Joe -- the villain of "Fury Road" -- and his rival Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, of "Thor" fame.

It is the latest twist in a long road for a franchise that began with 1979's "Mad Max" starring a young, leather-clad Mel Gibson, who does battle with vicious biker gangs.

Miller was working as a medical doctor in his native Australia at the time, and the young cinephile was deeply affected by the many road accident victims he encountered in the hospital.

With an ultra-low budget, Miller could not afford to shoot in major cities, and was forced to improvise a deserted, post-societal collapse landscape.

"That was a really lucky thing, but because accidentally, the film -- which otherwise would have been present-day, naturalistic -- turned out to be more allegorical, unwittingly," recalled Miller, now 79.

"And that's sort of what led to 'Mad Max,' and that's why we're still doing them. Because they're very addictive."

'Uniquely familiar'

The initial movie grossed $100 million. Its global success led to "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" in 1981 and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" in 1985.

The fast-paced, violent films drew on a visual language that audiences around the world could follow without needing much in the way of subtitles or dubbing.

"In Japan, 'Mad Max' was regarded as some sort of samurai. The French called it a 'Western on wheels.' In Scandinavia, he was a Viking," said Miller.

A fourth installment was a long time coming, as Miller tried his hand at wildly diverse films, including family movies like "Babe" and "Happy Feet."

"Fury Road" eventually arrived in 2015. The character of Max, now played by Tom Hardy, was relegated to second fiddle by Theron's tough-as-nails Furiosa.

With strong feminist themes, jaw-dropping effects and meticulously choreographed action sequences, it premiered at the prestigious Cannes festival and went on to earn 10 Oscar nominations, including for best picture and best director.

"Furiosa," Miller told the CinemaCon audience, "is different."

"You don't want a film to be a repetition of what you've just done... it has to be 'uniquely familiar,' as I like to say."



A Small Serbian Town Is Home to Robin Hood in a New TV Series 

Showrunner John Glenn poses with director Jonathan English prior to an interview. (AP) 
Showrunner John Glenn poses with director Jonathan English prior to an interview. (AP) 
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A Small Serbian Town Is Home to Robin Hood in a New TV Series 

Showrunner John Glenn poses with director Jonathan English prior to an interview. (AP) 
Showrunner John Glenn poses with director Jonathan English prior to an interview. (AP) 

Villages and castles from 12th-century England came to life in a small town in Serbia for the filming of a new series about Robin Hood that has just wrapped in the landlocked country in southeast Europe.

The 10-episode take on England’s beloved medieval outlaw who, in lore, stole from the rich to give to the poor, comes from Lionsgate Television, and is expected to premiere on MGM+ in the US and parts of Europe later this year.

The Associated Press recently visited the set in Simanovci, the village which is home to a film studio and not far from the capital of Belgrade. Thorough research for the series was visible in the scenography and costumes, taking the cast — and the studio — back in time to the stony interiors of a candlelit castle, complete with stained-glass lancet windows.

The “sweeping, romantic adventure” offers a historically grounded look into how Robin Hood grew up to become an outlaw-turned-hero in the wake of the Norman conquest of England, the producers say.

“We actually show the beginning of Robin Hood,” producer, director and writer Jonathan English, who was a main driving force behind the project, said in an interview. “We start the story with him as a child.”

Self-described as a “huge fan of all things medieval,” English marveled at Robin Hood’s persistent global appeal.

“You can stop a pensioner on the streets of Belgrade and he knows who Robin Hood is. You can stop a teenager on the streets of Beijing, and they know who Robin Hood is,” he said.

Asked whether the story is still relevant, following countless cinematic and small-screen adaptations, English insisted that “it is incredibly relevant, probably more today than ... 50 years ago or 100 years ago, even.”

“It’s a story about class and the absolute tyranny of class, people who believe that they can have everything and control everything and can own everything and everybody else could just, you know, get lost,” he said. “There’s always been wealthy people, but now you have uber-rich people. And the divide between the uber-rich and the rest of the world is extraordinary now.”

The show’s plot centers strongly on the romance between Robin and Marian. He is a Saxon forester’s son and Marian is the daughter of a Norman lord but they overcome the divide to jointly fight for freedom and against injustice.

Australian actor Jack Patten plays Robin, joined by Lauren McQueen as Marian. The two appear alongside Sean Bean as the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham, and Connie Nielsen, who plays Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen of England and wife of Henry II.

Patten admitted he was nervous ahead of his “third gig since getting out of drama school.” His Robin is “any young 24-year-old ... trying to find his place in the world” and who “gets dealt some pretty tricky cards.”

McQueen said Marian’s character will be “quite empowering” for young women watching the series.

Filmed in multiple locations in Serbia and with hundreds of staff and crew, the series is “huge” even by Hollywood standards, showrunner and writer John Glenn said. He described the new show as “much more Peaky Blinders in tone” than previous incarnations, referring to the hit UK TV series about gangsters in 1920s Birmingham.

Both Glenn and English said they chose Serbia because of high-standard facilities and crews but also because of the natural scenery that could mimic a medieval English landscape.

“It’s hard to find ancient forests now in England,” English said. “There’s not a lot of undeveloped wilderness.”