Before Inception debuted to widespread success and before being cast as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy was chosen to lead the return of the Mad Max franchise. That was back in 2009 and since then, despite filling out most of its cast, Mad Max: Fury Road has been unable to get its tires spinning.

George Miller, the man who directed Mel Gibson's Mad Max trilogy, has been working on making Mad Max 4 for a very long time. When Hardy was announced as Gibson's replacement, Miller had already been pushing the project for a decade and after waiting that long, what did we get? Two more years of delays! Finally, it appears that Mad Max: Fury Road is on its way, to begin shooting early next year.

In a chat with The Daily Telagraph, George Miller spoke of the production (or lack thereof) and status of Mad Max 4, revealing that everything's "ready to go" and that it's now just a waiting game.

"We've built the vehicles. We've designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It's all ready to go. We just wait."

Wait for what, you ask? The film was supposed to start shooting at the beginning of this year in Broken Hill, Australia, but a drought-ending flash flood at this key location put a damper on that. Because it was too damp, get it? Since then, some speculation was as extreme as pointing towards the project possibly falling apart due to budget concerns with the delays. That and Australia has become more expensive to shoot in (see: Green Lantern).

Warner Bros. and Miller agreed to a full 12-month delay so he could continue work on Happy Feet 2 but he's certainly not shy about the frustrations of making this movie a reality.

"All the contracts are signed. It's a locked-in film. It has been for 18 months now... We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year -- weather permitting."

Now that Tom Hardy has established himself as a go-to actor and recognizable star for mainstream moviegoers, Miller and Warner Bros. may benefit from the delays in the end with Mad Max: Fury Road becoming an even more bankable film at the box office. Joining Hardy in the cast will be Charlize Theron, Nicolas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz. Teresa Palmer, attached to the project prior to the delay, is not 100% locked (so she says).

We don't know when Mad Max: Fury Road will hit theaters but it will be shot in 3D.

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Source: The Daily Telegraph