Hardy is Mad Max

It looks like the names we’ve been hearing lately for FURY ROAD are heading into the wasteland.

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are officially in negotiations to star George Miller’s fourth time barreling down the white line nightmare with MAD MAX.

And according to THR, Hardy (BRONSON, ROCKnROLLA, STAR TREK NEMESIS) is indeed taking over for Mel Gibson as lawman-turned-road warrior “Mad” Max Rockatansky. They claim “the movie does take place a short while after the story detailed in 1985’s MAD MAX BEOND THUNDERDOME, which keeps Mad Max relatively young.”

This actually goes against other rumors (as yet unverified) I’ve been hearing lately, that Gibson would indeed be back in a smaller capacity — and one that would put an interesting twist on his nickname.

The movie, which has spent a decade searching for fuel, will film in Australia next summer.