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Seven years after the last crazy max Thriller, filming for furiosa is finally underway in the NSW outback as the cast and crew take on entire cities and desert locations for the fifth installment in the mega-franchise.
Who better to let the world know about this than “Lead Baddie” and star villain Chris Hemsworth, who posted a clapperboard numbered 52A and furiosa written below.
“A new journey into the crazy max Saga begins,” he wrote on June 2.
Acquisition of Charlize Theron who co-starred Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Hemsworth’s co-star Anya Taylor-Joy reportedly landed in Australia late last month.
She posted “It’s Thursday in Aus” on Instagram and later shared a photo of a white “Outback” cat she had received as a gift.
And another teaser from madmaxmovie’s Instagram page posted a photo of Fury Road reading, ‘Something’s coming’.
And indeed it did.
Forget Hollywood, welcome to ‘Haywood’
A huge convoy of RVs, trucks and 4x4s for furiosaFilmed entirely in NSW, the film has swept over the Riverina farming town of Hay in recent weeks, stimulating the economy in the wake of COVID-19 and an extended drought.
Julie Lawrence, owner of Hay Caravan Park, narrated The new daily newspaper On Thursday, the city has been a “beehive of activity” for the past few months after producers booked their park on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River for the entire “behind the scenes” stunt crew.
She said the city is now unofficially known as the outback version of Hollywood.
“[It is now] unofficially known as ‘Haywood,'” she said.
The crews have since pulled up stumps and continued north with their roving caravan, settling around Broken Hill and Silverton, but not before holding a “fantastic fireworks display” as a thank you and farewell.
“All of Hay has been a busy place and has been treated to a surreal few months along the way crazy max The crew was in town,” Ms. Lawrence said.
“The park was crammed with rented RVs to accommodate part of the crew and all the cabins were booked.”
Ms Lawrence said the crews were a “delight… very friendly, respectful and fun”. They left the park at 3am and walked to a designated filming location for half an hour, returning around 5pm.
She said she hopes to see the iconic One Tree Hotel in the film when it releases in mid-2024. The famous pub was built in 1862 and previously served as a coaching inn for the carriage company Cobb & Co.
Local cafe manager Megan Griffiths, who has lived in Hay all her life, told the ABC it was the busiest in town and noted that she sold more than 220 coffees in a single day.
“Mornings are a lot busier than usual. They tend to get going a little earlier than we would normally start getting busy,” Ms Griffiths said.
Silverton Hotel owner Peter Price tells TND there was “a lot of traffic” through the city, 25 kilometers outside of Broken Hill.
“A few crew members come in for a drink a few times a week. There aren’t any stars at this point, but we still have a few weeks of filming ahead of us,” he said.
“Security is very tight so access to none of the activities is allowed.”
Director and co-writer George Miller calls prequel a ‘saga’
The long-awaited prequel to Miller’s Oscar-winning film rage road, which focuses on a young Furiosa, spans 15 years, not three days.
Mueller tells diversity the prequel was a “saga”.
Although Theron said in 2020 it was “heartbreaking” that she won’t be in the film, Taylor-Joy is already “dreaming” about the role.
“I fell in love with Furiosa because Charlize presented her,” Taylor-Joy said.
“She did such an incredible job. It was so nice. I can’t even think of trying to follow in their footsteps. It has to be something else because it’s just not possible,” she said indiewire earlier this year.
“I’ve already started dreaming about it [Furiosa] and she comes in very strong.
“I’m so looking forward to it and to pushing the boundaries of what my brain thought was possible.”
In his book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury RoadKyle Buchanan interviewed producer and first assistant director PJ Voeten and uncovered a few details about Hemsworth’s cast.
“George saw Chris [Hemsworth] first out of politeness and then fell in love with the idea,” said Voeten.
“He’s going to play totally against the guy, the main villain. Unfortunately, we have to find all of our other characters that are gone: a new Immortan, a new Bullet Farmer, and a few others.”
“furiosa is more of a traditional drama in three acts. If people expect to see another car chase movie, it won’t be,” Voeten told Buchanan.
Meanwhile, Miller has previously said it’s great to see crazy max Franchise return to Australia.
“The support of the Federal Government and the NSW Government has been crucial. They made it possible for the film to get the green light, be shot in Australia and be produced in our home state,” Miller said last year.
According to the latest production update, furiosa is officially still in the “development/pre-production” phase.
If the success of Mad Max: Fury Road It’s all over – the film was nominated for 10 Oscars and won six, including for production design, sound mixing and editing, and costume design – then the much-anticipated furiosa should see massive receipts at the box office.
rage street is said to have earned $375 million with a total production cost of up to $185 million.