Stars Found for Fourth 'Mad Max' Film

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron have signed up to play the leads in the newest installment of the "Mad Max" movie series, which is set to begin filming in August 2010.

According to Reuters, Mel Gibson has given up his role as Max Rockatansky to the younger, British-born actor Tom Hardy, who attracted attention with his role in RocknRolla. Theron, who will also appear in the upcoming movie "The Road," will play the female lead. All that is known about "Mad Max: Fury Road" is that it takes place shortly after the end of the previous film "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," which explains why they needed a younger actor to play Max.

Hollywood.com writes that George Miller and Doug Mitchell will produce the new "Mad Max" film, and Warner Bros. will distribute. It will be filmed in Australia.

The fourth installment of the series was originally set to start filming in 2002 in Namibia, but the project was scrapped, reports BBC News. At that time, Mel Gibson was going to play his old role from the previous three movies as a hardened police officer who became a "road warrior" in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is the films' setting.