Mad Max shoot delayed, Babe 3 in development?

Earlier this week, news surfaced that George Miller’s planned revival of the Mad Max cinematic saga was set to take in two films rather than the originally-announced one. The one that was known about, Mad Max: Fury Road, had been set to start shooting in November this year, but a report in The Australian has suggested that cast and crew have been told it’s been pushed back until February 2011 instead.

Given that no release date was announced for the project, it’s not as if there’s a razor-tight deadline for George Miller to hit. And the cited reason for the delay – which hasn’t been officially confirmed – is that the plan to make two films back-to-back has caused some scripting and casting problems that need to be resolved before cameras can roll.

Furthermore, the article in The Australian also suggests that Miller is in development on a third Babe film, which would be something of a shock.

After the delightful first Babe movie (which snared a Best Picture Oscar nomination), the sequel – Babe: Pig In The City – felt like more of a Mad Max movie than a flick about a talking pig, and it also appeared to have killed the franchise stone dead (although I do recall the late Gene Siskel naming Babe 2 his film of the year at the time).

Certainly at the screening of Babe: Pig In The City I went to, the sounds of sobbing children could easily be heard, along with the death cries of a cinematic family franchise disappearing before my eyes.

It’d be fascinating to see just which direction Miller would take the Babe franchise next, although The Australian does note that “Miller's work on Happy Feet 2 and the Mad Max films has resulted in development of Babe 3 also slowing down.”

Here’s the story at The Australian, and we’ll keep you posted on the progress of Mad Max.