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Production on 'Mad Max: Fury Road', the fourth film
starring Mel Gibson as a post-apocalyptic road warrior,
has been delayed until late autumn due to uncertainties
posed by a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq, 20th Century
Fox officials said on Friday.
Filming had been scheduled to start in July in the
southwest African nation of Namibia.
Studios and producers behind three other big-budget
films slated to begin shooting overseas this spring
and summer -- the ancient war epic 'Troy' starring
Brad Pitt, an Alexander the Great drama directed by
Oliver Stone, and 'Star Wars: Episode III' -- insist
their productions will proceed as planned.
'Troy' and Stone's movie are both being distributed
in the United States by Warner Bros., a unit of AOL
Time Warner Inc. , while 'Star Wars' is a Fox release.
A spokesman for Intermedia Films, which is financing
the 'Alexander' project, said a war in Iraq could
be a factor in choosing among several location options,
including Morocco. 'Certainly, we're keeping our eye
on world events', he said.
Likewise, Warner Bros. said battle scenes for 'Troy',
set to start filming this summer in Morocco, may be
moved elsewhere if necessary. 'As in all other productions
that use remote locations, we always investigate more
than one site', a studio spokeswoman said.
In a related development, the NBC television network
said it was delaying production on an upcoming reality
romance series, 'Around the World in 80 Dates', in
which an eligible bachelor jets off on an international
quest for love.
Executives at NBC, owned by General Electric Co.,
also cited security concerns over the possible outbreak
of war, as well as anti-American sentiment in foreign
countries that might dampen the tone of the show.
As for Mad Max, Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman
Jim Gianopulos told Daily Variety, 'Any time you do
a show like this, it is a massive undertaking with
enormous prep time. In this case, it is about the
movement of huge vehicles and a mass of people, and
with the pending war and all the potential logistical
consequences, we had the latitude to wait and let
some of this stuff blow over before going into full-bore
production'.
Studio officials said Gibson remains firmly in place
to reprise his role as a former cop roaming the wastelands
of a dystopian Australian Outback in the fourth installment
of the Mad Max movie series. The actor and writer-director
George Miller also remain committed to shooting in
Namibia, Fox said.
Fox, a unit of News Corp Ltd., had tentatively planned
to release 'Fury Road' next summer, but that date
could change depending on when production actually
begins, studio officials said.
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