Miller Blames Rain For Mad Max Delay

The fourth installment in the franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, is a remake of Mel Gibson's original 1979 action picture and will star Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. Movie bosses also plan to shoot the film back-to-back with a sequel, Mad Max: Furiosa.

But the shoot in the Australian outback town of Broken Hill has been postponed twice and now isn't slated to go into production until 2012, sparking rumours the project is in trouble.

But director Miller has spoken out to allay fears, insisting the unusual rainfall in the area has changed the desert setting, and instead of finding another location, the moviemaker is determined to wait until he is able to film the picture Down Under.

He tells Watoday.com, "Warners (Warner Bros. film studio) are very, very committed to the film, as we are. There is nothing like creative problems. It's not an issue of budget; we're covered on the Australian dollar rise.'

''Unfortunately for Mad Max, what was wasteland is now this wonderful flower garden. We've looked at every single nook and cranny in Australia for these specific locations. That's why Broken Hill has become such a base for outback films: you've got the infrastructure of the city itself and the treeless plains beyond.

''Obviously if we go to Namibia or Morocco or Chile it's a different kettle of fish, but we want to shoot it here.''