It’s common knowledge in Hollywood that the genre of the post-apocalypse — one which often pits the remnants of society against a world free of order and riddled with chaos — is, by now, well-trodden ground. But perhaps one of the most influential touchstones within this most ambitious areas of cinema is that of George Miller’s 1979 sun-scorched masterclass, Mad Max.
And now, almost 35 years after Mel Gibson sauntered into town, we have the fourth installment in the series, Mad Max: Fury Road, looming menacingly on the horizon like a rising cloud of sand. Only this time around, we have Tom Hardy stepping up to the plate as the titular outlaw, tasked with joining forces with Charlize Theron’s wonderfully named Furiosa in order to escape a tyrannical warlord known only as Immortan Joe.
And from the look of these recently-revealed stills, Hardy and Theron’s characters are about to go through hell and high water in their journey. Moreover, these images only offer up further evidence that Fury Road is on course to be one of the most bat-shit insane films of the year in terms of practical effects, and we’re cautiously optimistic to see Miller’s latest play out in full on the big screen.
Mad Max: Fury Road will beckon audiences into the Wasteland when it debuts in theaters on May 15, 2015.
Haunted by his turbulent past, Mad Max believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa. They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe, from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.