EXCLUSIVE: Mad Max blockbuster Furiosa was forced to shut down production in Sydney for a week after legendary director George Miller signed Covid
Production on the latest Mad Max installment Furiosa has halted in Sydney after legendary director George Miller caught Covid.
The Chron Australia is able to report that the production, which has been running at several locations in and around Sydney since June, has been suspended for a week, with all on-screen filming halted until at least August 15.
Miller, 77, is understood to have tested positive for Covid earlier this week and has been forced to isolate at his Sydney home.
Filming on the multi-million dollar production, currently based in Kurnell, south of Sydney, will resume next week.
George Miller (centre) is isolating with Covid at his Sydney home
Chris Hemsworth was seen on the set of Furiosa in Kurnell in early July
Furiosa producers have been asked for comment.
The setback harks back to Miller’s infamous 2012 shoot for Mad Max: Fury Road, which was plagued by a series of costly delays and production issues.
Filming originally began in Namibia but ran into some public relations problems after the Namibian Conservation Coast and Management Project accused producers of harming a number of plant and animal species in a leaked draft.
The filmmakers later dismissed these reports as “rhetoric.”
Reshoots later took place in Potts Hill and Penrith Lakes in western Sydney, but bad weather caused a number of delays.
Years later it was also revealed that tensions between Mad Max: Fury Road stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy also caused major disruptions on set, with Theron later admitting that at one point she demanded protection from Hardy.
Charlize Theron on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road, which has been plagued by several costly delays
George Miller with Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy at the premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road after the pair regularly clashed on set
Speaking to author Kyle Buchanan for his book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, Theron said Hardy’s late arrival on set created tensions that almost completely derailed the film.
One day, after Hardy was several hours late for the set, Theron asked the British actor; “How disrespectful are you?” and said the producers should ‘fine the f—— c— a hundred thousand dollars for every minute he held up this crew’.
Hardy responded by “pulling on her” and saying, “What did you say to me?”
The Oscar-winner later confirmed that the couple had “worked out” their differences.
The film grossed nearly $400 million worldwide and won six Oscars.
Anya Taylor-Joy will star as Furiosa for the Fury Road prequel, which was set in Sydney
Furiosa is a prequel to Fury Road in which Anya Taylor-Joy plays a younger Theron in the title role to helm the post-apocalyptic blockbuster.
Taylor-Joy and co-star Chris Hemsworth were first photographed on set just before the current shutdown, with both wearing red wigs for their roles.
Details of Hemsworth’s role in the film have been kept under wraps by Miller and insiders at the Warner Bros. studio, with his role officially defined as “unspecified.”
Academy Award-winning director George Miller (pictured on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road) is reportedly isolating in Sydney while Furiosa is suspended