Development of Babe 3 slowed by Miller's work load

Mad Max movie grinds to a halt

Michael Bodey From: The Australian July 07, 2010 12:00AM

FILMING of the next Mad Max film Fury Road will be postponed until February.

The move is likely to leave several hundred crew without jobs into the new year.

Cast, crew, agents and film service companies are awaiting official confirmation this week.

The reason for the postponement is unknown, although recent internet reports indicate that director George Miller is overseeing the shooting of not one but two Mad Max films from the same production. It is believed this development has caused some screenwriting and casting problems.

The office of the film's production company, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, would not confirm or deny the postponement from an expected November start date to next year.

The move is another major blow to a film sector desperately waiting for a major international movie to tide them over at the tail end of a miserable year.

It is understood a number of major projects, including Alex Proyas's Dracula Year Zero, the big-budget US Fox network TV series produced by Steven Spielberg, Terra Nova, and the sequel to Ghost Rider, are circling Australia without yet committing to shoot here.

Hundreds of cast and crew will be inconvenienced by the postponement, with many businesses servicing the shoot losing anticipated turnover.

Meanwhile, insiders suggest Miller's work on Happy Feet 2 and the Mad Max films has resulted in development of Babe 3 also slowing down.

While a number of Australian films continue to be shot here, the absence of a major international film has been particularly cruel to companies and crew in Queensland and NSW. Such films often underwrite infrastructure and wages for cheaper Australian films.