Furiosa Needs to be Monumental

Fury Road premiered 9 years ago in Los Angeles and took the world completely by surprise. There were so many rumours on the troubled production that a few years later, they wrote a book about it (check the book here). The film took 18 years to make, from conception to the big screen. Some say that it is such a monumental achievement because of the pain and suffering of the cast and crew in creating the film.

So, I thought I had a look at this ‘troubled’ production of Mad Max Fury Road and see if truly chaos can produce art and if the upcoming Furiosa needs to have the chaos in order to become a sequel for the ages like Terminator 2, The Godfather 2 or Aliens.

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Who is George Miller?

Born on 3rd March 1945 in Chincilla, Australia, George Miller would be a fan of film from an early age, sneaking into the local cinema every Saturday with his brothers to see films that were not really for his age. With no local film industry, George and his TWIN brother John (yes, there’s 2 George Millers) would join medical school and eventually become doctors. During his career as a doctor, George worked in the emergency room where he would see the carnage of car accidents in rural Queensland.

George tinkered with the camera in his spare time and made a short film that landed him at a director’s workshop at the University of Melbourne. There he met Byron Kennedy a producer and good friend that will shape George’s career and life.

When George was 31, he did what many aspiring filmmaker to achieve their dreams: ask friends and family for some cash to make their first feature film. So, in 1977, George and Byron raised 350 thousand dollars from various sources and made Mad Max.

With Mel Gibson joining the team — straight out of drama school — they filmed like a pack of wasteland riders: on locations they didn’t have permit for, with little regard for safety and many dangerous stunts. When it launched in 1979, it was an immediate sensation but not without sacrifices: there were many accidents on set and the film crew gradually lost confidence in the director to a point where he considered quitting the production.

But the audiences loved it and the film would go on to make over 100 million at the box office setting a Guinness World Record for most profitable film at the time.

With Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior having a similar success and becoming a cult classic, the fame and glitter of Hollywood soon come calling.

George Goes to Hollywood

His first encounter with Hollywood — making Mad Max 3 — was not an easy one. George being ever honest and kind, was often taken advantage of by producers who didn’t provide what he needed to make the film. When he asked for 150 extras, only 75 would turn up, and on and on.

On top of that, his long-time friend Byron, died in a helicopter crash in 1983, leaving George without the advice of a trusted friend and producer who was not part of the studio system

George pushed through and finished Mad Max 3, then moved on to make Witches of Eastwick — another troubled production. He butted heads with the studio producers all the time and quit the set twice. Eventually, with support from actors Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon and Cher, he finished the film which proved to be a financial success.

It’s obvious that for George, it was not easy to adapt to the studio film-making in Hollywood, he was just used to not being interrupted with notes and restrictions to how he puts his vision on film.

The next project he signed up to was another struggle that had a somewhat better outcome.

He was developing Contact. This film was ahead of its time, defining the smart-scifi category of films. Imagine what a sci-fi made by George Miller would look like.

George’s vision for the film was contrasting with what the studios wanted to see. While he wanted to make a unique, special film, the producers wanted everything explained on the screen and eventually lost courage to support George and fired him. George handed the project over to Robert Zemeckis and sued Warner Brothers for breach of contract. The lawsuit stretched out for 2 years but the settlement came with an unexpected upside: Warner Bros. returned the rights to the Mad Max franchise back to George.

But in Hollywood, business is business and a studio heads never hold a grudge when it comes to making money. So in 1995 Warner Brothers invited George back to pitch him a concept for a Mad Max TV series. This was a time before The Sopranos or Band of Brothers, when a TV series would be much ‘lighter’ in tone and tend to have seasons of 24 episodes.

While George passed on the idea, he met Brendan McCarthy, a TV writer at the time. Brendan bluntly asked George why he wouldn’t make another film. It was an honest question that got George thinking, “Yeah, why not?”

Brendan McCarthy (left) and George Miller (right).

The seed was planted in 1995, with George formulating the idea of Fury Road in LA as he was crossing the street:

I was in Los Angeles, crossing the street, and this very simple idea popped in my head. What if there was a Mad Max movie that was one long chase, and the MacGuffin was human? Can you tell an entire story on the run, and how much of the backstory can you pick up on the way? The essential task was to see how rich the story could be while it’s on the road. — George Miller

In 1997, George assembled a small team to flesh out the story of Fury Road. At the time, George considered a few actresses for the main roles. For Furiosa his first choice was Uma Thurman, coming off the success of Gattaca and the not-so-successful Batman & Robin. Then Bridget Moynahan came up, who was unknown at the time and even Monica Bellucci was considered who was making a name for herself in Italy. Charlize Theron was also in the mix, but her casting agent said that she was not interested, something Charlize later said she had no idea about.

By 1998, the film moved to Universal Pictures and was teased in the industry newspapers aiming for a summer release in 2001 or 2002 but Mel Gibson was not confirmed as returning.

While the buzz was in full swing, Miller and team were busy setting up The Mad Max Room inside a boardroom at his offices in Sydney.

The Mad Max Room

The Mad Max Room was a space on the first floor of George Miller’s office in Sydney functioning as an ‘ideas’ factory for Mad Max.

Here, they developed concepts for the story, characters, designs, and settings, arranging them in a coherent way. This is where Fury Road was transformed into prose form, and the story of the film was laid out in 3,500 storyboard panels.

The Mad Max Room at George Miller’s offices in Sydney, Australia

There was no typed screenplay. Just a series of hand drawn panels like a never-ending black and white comic book covering the walls of the conference room.

George was also a fan of Alfred Hitchcock that had a mantra for making his films.

‘I try to make movies where they don’t have to read the subtitles in Japan.’ — Alfred Hitchcock

Over the course of 3 years, this room produced ideas, designs and concepts that would influence the final look of the film.

There were character designs, of which some didn’t make it to the finished film, like Furiosa with hair or with dreadlocks, or various designs of how her mechanical arm would look like and function. Or designs for Immortan Joe that were different to start with, due to a unique backstory and variations of his mask. Characters like The Bullet Farmer were imagined and The People Eater at this time which ended up looking different. The character of Nux and other War Boys were initially conceived as Necro Boyz. Even Coma The Doof Warrior was imagined at this time and of course, Mad Max, at a time when Mel Gibson was still envisioned for the role. Every crazy idea was considered inside the Mad Max Room, and each character had a backstory that justified their appearance and design.

The design for the cars had to be outrageous, but logical for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Each car, motorbike or truck told a story of where its owner has been. The locations were also designed here, with The Citadel taking centre stage and going through multiple variations.

But more importantly, we get to see a sneak-preview of Bullet Town a location featured in the upcoming Furiosa. This is a settlement built on an oil lake with sole purpose of making weaponry. It’s heavily guarded with an epic bridge as an entrance. Can’t wait to see this in Furiosa.

The Casting Game

With the storyboards finished and the vision of the film in place, it was time for casting. George Miller was now thinking that Mel Gibson is a bit old (he was pushing 50), so he considered Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp for Max, Angelina Jolie as Furiosa. Coincidentally, Tom Hardy auditioned for a war boy at the time. Remember this is the 2000s. However, with the studio demanding a big star for such a major production, they reverted to Mel Gibson, considering he was the original Mad Max. By now, Mel Gibson was an icon worldwide with films like Lethal Weapon, Maverick, The Patriot and Braveheart behind him. When he accepted to do the film, he did recognise that he was getting old and that production needs to start soon so he would be able to still do it.

With Mel Gibson on board, George Miller pitched the project to 20 Century Fox and after 10 months of negotiating, they allocated 104 million dollars to Fury Road (with 24 going to Mel Gibson) and set a shoot date for May 2003.

The Stage is Set, The Pieces Are Moving

Getting the money proved to be the easy part. And it was quick to go out the window too. After 9/11 the value of the dollar tanked, so the production budget was reduced overnight by 30%.

That made 20 Century Fox chicken out, considering the many moving parts of the production that could not be put on a balance sheet.

So, the project was stopped and George Miller had to pivot to another project that would define his career.

At the same time as working on Happy Feet, George was still developing Fury Road, signing off designs and storylines coming from The Mad Max Room.

But something more impactful happened during this time. Drama coach and creative philosopher Nick Lathouris, who George knew from highschool, joined the Fury Road team. The two of them spent hours and hours discussing the lore of the Mad Max world, the backstory of each character and their development arcs. Nick wrote a 190 page analysis of the story of Fury Road and what each character goes through during the film.

Nick Lathouris penned a 190 page analysis of the story in Fury Road

It was during these long conversations that the story for Furiosa was born. It was part of a healthy storytelling process, where you have to probe the coherence of the story, and you do that by creating in-depth backstories for the characters and the world.

While enjoying the success of Happy Feet and musing on his version of Justice League (with Armie Hammer as Batman and Adam Brody as The Flash), Miller never stopped working on Fury Road. The story kept being refined and refined until in 2009 when he had the time to fully commit to making the film.

By now, Mel Gibson’s implosion had happened, so casting started again in full swing. This time, considerations for Max were Michael Fassbender, Jeremy Renner, Armie Hammer, Eric Bana, Sam Worthington. However, George had a soft spot for Heath Ledger with whom he had many discussions about the role believing Ledger could bring the necessary depth to the troubled Max. After Ledger’s tragic death, George was intrigued by another actor with similar intensity: Tom Hardy. When Tom and Armie Hammer auditioned together in the same room, Tom got so into his character that he spit in Armie’s face. After that, Armie just told George to cast Tom, confident he would be in good hands.

Charlize wasn’t the first to be considered for Furiosa either. Jessica Chastain auditioned, along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ruth Negga and Gal Gadot.

After winning and Oscar for Monster in 2003, Charlize did a few projects, but none that she could sink her teeth into, so when she heard another Mad Max film is being cast for, she jumped at it and got it.

Fury Road vs Mother Nature

By 2010, production finally seemed to be moving ahead. The location was set for Broken Hill, Australia, the same place that Mad Max The Road Warrior was filmed in 1980. The cars were built, the cast was ready to go and the cash was in the bank.

Planets seemed to be aligning.

A very rare storm flooded parts of Australia 2 weeks prior to start of the shoot turning the dessert into a flower garden

Two weeks prior to start of the shoot, Broken Hill was hit by biblical storms and experienced its second-highest season of rain in 121 years. After all that rain, Broken Hill has turned from red, flat earth into a flower garden!

So, again, they had to put everything in storage and leave with their tails between their legs, there was no way they could shoot there and remove the grass and flowers with CGI later.

Mother Nature was the winner this time.

9 Months in the Desert

Two years later, production was gearing up again with June 2012 as new date to start the shoot. In the past two years, Happy Feet 2 was released, this was produced by George and although it made money, it was nowhere near as successful as the first one.

So the studio behind Fury Road was now doubting the project again. They cut the shooting schedule by a full 4 weeks, essentially killing the time allocated to shoot the beginning and the end. With all the pressure of Happy Feet 2 not performing, a budget that was clearly not enough and a studio that was not supportive, George kept calm, pushed on and started filming in the Namibian desert.

The Namibian desert is not forgiving regardless of anyone’s previous misfortunes. Not at all. Temperatures here drop to near freezing overnight and as high as 40 degrees during the day. Winds are constant and sand gets into anything. With long 10 to 12 hours workdays, costumes that are made of leather, plastic or barely anything, both crew and cast rapidly grew exhausted and less patient.

Tom and Charlize Clash

“It’s in their (Max & Furiosa) best interest at the outset that they dispose of each other — indeed, kill each other” — George Miller

Five months into the taxing shoot in the desert and patience was running thin. With no script, little direction from George Miller amid literal chaos, Tom was the first to start doubting the project. And Charlize wasn’t far off. Both are professionals at their craft but at the same time they are human beings. Every single one of the crew was working hard and the stakes were high. A simple error could delay the production by days that they didn’t have. Moreover, every day was a big stunt day with barely any time to mount 2 or 3 takes.

There was no option to take a break either. 6 day work weeks with 1 day off, thousands of miles away from home in the Nigerian city of Swakopmund made it impossible to arrange a flight to go back home and be back in time on set.

For Tom, it was the added pressure that he had big shoes to fill. He was a young, non-Australian actor replacing the legend that is Mel Gibson.

So he went into survival mode. He started challenging any choreographic decision, would ask for longer takes and storm off the set when things wouldn’t go his way.

At the same time this pushed Charlize off the edge. An actress committed to giving her all to the director found herself unsure of what the director wanted. At times, they would be in the War Rig all day, would drive around aimelessly and at the end of the day had no idea what they shot or if they got it right. Sometimes all George needed was a few seconds behind the wheel for a shot of her eyes and Charlize would ask to finish the scene or do a few takes to give George a variety of scenes to choose from, but he will say, ‘nope, got what I need, we’re moving on’.

And when Tom started being late on set, Charlize got really furious and that’s when they started fighting each other. This would happen again and again to a point where George started doubting himself if he made the wrong decision casting Tom to play Max. And nobody on set could mediate the conflict. Other actors that were in scenes with them — like the Wives and Nux — were keeping quiet in the back of the War Rig, letting them have a go at each other in the front, like two parents having a domestic.

In the end, just as Max was completing his arc, Tom calmed down — to everyone’s surprise — and delivered a moment of calmness to a scene that needed it: the moment when the characters decide to return to the Citadel. Tom’s sudden softening was a shock to everybody, but as a Method actor, his character was coming around too, finding a purpose and a solution for their situation.

The tension between Tom and Charlize wasn’t personal. It was just two people trying to do the best job they could do in those circumstances.

18 Years in the Making

July 2014 — SanDiego Comic Con. This was a year when the most anticipated titles were The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, with Peter Jackson himself attending and the Wachowskis’s Jupiter Ascending.

But when the trailer for Fury Road dropped, the internet burst into flames

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After editing no more than 400 hours of footage and more back-and-forth with the studio for a year, Mad Max Fury Road premiered on 15th May 2015 in Los Angeles and was an immediate hit.

The screening at Cannes resulted in a standing ovation, something unheard of for an action film. Considering George and editor Margaret Sixel finished editing the film 2 weeks prior to launch, so it was at Cannes when some of the cast and crew watched the final product for the first time.

They were themselves completely taken aback by the result. They knew what they were doing was special, they didn’t realise just how extraordinary it would be.

At the Q&A with the director and actors after watching the film, Tom Hardy had this to say:

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Nothing Good Comes Easy

‘The movie comes with its own little suitcase of baggage, but I have no regrets. We survived; we came out of it. We made something really beautiful. It was hard, but then again, part of my brain functions on the philosophy that nothing good comes easy, so I can live with it. I’m proud of it, and I love that it resonates with people the way it does.’ — Charlize Theron

It certainly feels like the hardship the crew had to endure during filming seeped on the screen. Some people argue that the chaos is what made the film unique and it would have been different if filmed on a green screen.

Furiosa was definitely not as chaotic, but it was in the making for a few years. Considering George’s creative process for Fury Road, which took such a long time to develop, I’m sure he has been thinking and re-thinking the story of Furiosa since its conception in 2001. Additionally, Nick Lathouris is credited as the one of the writers for Furiosa so I would assume he has been involved in polishing the story as well.

Yes, the shoot was 6 months (instead of 9) but that doesn’t mean the desert was kinder or that the stakes were not as high. What it means is that this time George was left in peace, not interrupted, which is an excellent sign. Just trust the man to do a good job.

Furiosa certainly has the potential to become a sequel that beats the first instalment. The same crew was involved in making the film, with the only difference being that this is not a single chase sequence throughout the film. However, what we’ve seen so far carries the same intensity and energy as Fury Road.

Did Chaos Make Fury Road?

Well, it certainly helped. I think the determination of the entire crew along with the vision and perseverance of George Miller got them through an experience that many would have abandoned early on. I think they got to a point down the rabbit hole where they said, there’s no turning back, we have to get through it, through the darkness, through the pain and into the light on the other side, into a new day.

And what a day… What a Lovely Day!

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