Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 action film directed and produced by George Miller, and written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris. The fourth instalment in the Mad Max franchise, it is an Australian and American[6] venture produced by Kennedy Miller Mitchell, RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures. It is set in a future desert wasteland where gasoline and water are scarce commodities. It follows Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), who joins forces with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to flee from cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his army in an armoured tanker truck, which leads to a lengthy road battle. The film also features Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton.
Fury Road was in "development hell" for many years, with pre-production starting as early as 1997. Attempts were made to shoot the film in 2001 and 2003, but were delayed due to the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War. In 2007, after focusing on Happy Feet, Miller decided to pursue producing the film again. He briefly considered producing it as a computer-animated film but abandoned it in favor of live-action. In 2009, Miller announced that filming would begin in early 2011. Hardy was cast as Max in June 2010, with production planned to begin that November. Principal photography was delayed several more times before beginning in July 2012. The film wrapped in December 2012, although additional footage was shot in November 2013.
The film had its world premiere on 7 May 2015 at the TCL Chinese Theatre. It began a worldwide theatrical release on 14 May 2015, including an out-of-competition screening at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX. It has grossed over $376 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in the Mad Max franchise. The film was widely acclaimed for its acting, direction, screenplay, art direction, score, practical effects, stunts and action sequences, and is considered one of the best films of 2015 by many critics and publications[7] as well as one of the greatest action films of all time. The film won many critical and guild awards, as well as receiving ten Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.[8] It is the first film of the Mad Max franchise to receive Academy Award recognition, and the second most-nominated film of the 88th Academy Awards after The Revenant, also starring Hardy.
