In 2007, the smash hit Happy Feet won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. So, it’s certainly no surprise that writer/director George Miller and some of the voice cast returned for Happy Feet Two. This time around, Erik, the tiny son of master tap dancer Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) and the vocally gifted Gloria (voiced by Pink), runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), the only penguin who can fly. When violent shifts in the glacial landscape of Antarctica threaten the survival of the entire Emperor penguin community, Mumble and Erik must rally all creatures, both great and small, to save them.

During a press conference to promote the film, George Miller talked about collaborating with tap master Savion Glover for the penguin choreography, the importance of following nature and natural history for the film’s story, how despite our differences we can overcome the chaos of the world, what a privilege it was for him to see this voice cast working and recording together, and how he has no idea what the story for Happy Feet 3 could be, at this point. He also talked about his Justice League movie with Common as Green Lantern that never got off the ground, and whether Mad Max: Fury Road will ever actually happen. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Although previously known for his live-action work, including Babe: Pig in the City, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Witches of Eastwick and his feature directorial debut Mad Max, writer/director George Miller has also made his mark in the animated world with the smash hit Happy Feet (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007) and its sequel, Happy Feet Two.

While we will run what he had to say about that film, closer to its November 18^th release date, we did want to share what he had to say about his live-action work, his Justice League movie with Common as Green Lantern that never got off the ground, and whether Mad Max: Fury Road will ever actually happen. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Filming on George Miller’s Mad Max reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road, was originally set to begin in August 2010 but then was pushed back to February 2011.  Then it was kicked back eleven months to January 2012 because torrential rains had flooded the Australian desert where the movie planned to shoot.  Last month, Tom Hardy, who will play the eponymous road warrior, said the film will go before cameras in April and it looks like he could have his ride.  MadMaxMovies.com may have landed some set photos of a couple vehicles used in the movie.  The truck definitely looks like it could fit into the world of Mad Max and if the four-door sedan is actually attached to the six-wheeler, that’s an awesome design.  Of course, these could just be pieces of a different, unknown vehicle, and this is assuming these cars are even from Fury Road in the first place.

Hit the jump to check out the potential vehicles.  Mad Max: Fury Road co-stars Charlize Theron and possibly Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) and Riley Kileough (The Runaway).

Opening this weekend is writer-director Gavin O’ Connor’s Warrior.   Starring Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Jennifer Morrison, Nick Nolte, and Noah Emmerich, Warrior tells the story of two estranged brothers (Hardy and Edgerton) on their paths to the biggest MMA fight of their careers.  Now I’m going to tell you something that might surprise you: I loved the movie.  One of the surprises about Warrior is the way it shakes the typical narrative structure by having you root for two protagonists.  While your typical sports movie will have you rooting for one character, driving you to cheer them on in the finale, Warrior makes you feel for both characters who each have a very strong storyline.

At the press day for the film, Hardy and Edgerton talked about the challenges of making the movie, the fight scenes, training, how the other fighters helped them, working with Nick Nolte, future projects like The Great Gatsby, The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for the audio and transcript.

George Miller’s Mad Max follow-up Fury Road has had a bit of a storied history. The film was originally set to start production in August 2010 with stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, but after massive sets had been built and intense pre-production work was underway, torrential rains flooded the Australian desert that was set to be the film’s backdrop for the duration of the shoot.

Flash forward to this past March, when Miller gave an update on the project saying that they would restart pre-production later this year and commence filming early next year, with the film fully funded and ready to go. Now we have a solid start date, as Hardy revealed to Steve at today’s Warrior press day that the film will begin production next April. He said:

“we’re going to have to find somewhere else to shoot it, but it looks like it’s going in April.”

Hit the jump for more on Mad Max: Fury Road.

Just a mere matter of minutes ago I had the pleasure of speaking to Tom Hardy (Inception) and Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom) about their upcoming film Warrior. Warrior follows two estranged brothers (Hardy and Edgerton) on their paths to the biggest MMA fight of their careers – against each other. Since Hardy and Edgerton are two of Hollywood’s biggest up-and-coming stars, I wanted to post what they had to see as fast as possible.

Continue reading to see what Edgerton and Hardy had to say about Warrior and their incredible slates of future projects, including The Great Gatsby, Mad Max: Fury Road and David Yates’ Al Capone biopic. And of course, you can expect a very typical Christopher Nolan-esque response from Tom Hardy about his role in The Dark Knight Rises.

Earlier today at CinemaCon, Warner Bros. held a panel with president Jeff Robinov during which he discussed some of the studio’s upcoming projects. In addition to reiterating the studio’s enthusiasm for projects such as The Hobbit, Dark Shadows, and the Clint Eastwood/Beyonce team-up that is A Star Is Born, Robinov also mentioned much anticipated projects such as The Great Gatsby (starring Leonardo DiCaprio), Mad Max: Fury Road, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity (starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock).

While there have been some questions regarding the status of both George Miller‘s Mad Max installment and Gravity, any time the head of a studio discusses projects as being in the studio’s short-term forecast, you can be sure the wheels are turning on said films.  Steve will have a lot more on the WB panel and what was shown, but for now, consider these projects on the immediate horizon.

Director George Miller’s highly anticipated next installment in his Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, has had quite a rocky development. Originally, the $100 million flick was to start shooting last August for 9 months, with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron ready to topline the flick. Massive pre-production got underway and Miller began building sets and cars for the film. Then, suddenly, production was pushed back an entire year because torrential rains were flooding the are in Australia where the crew was set to flim. Now, Miller has provided an update to The Daily Telegraph (via The Playlist) on when production on the Warner Bros. film will resume:

“We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year—weather permitting. We’ve built the vehicles. We’ve designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It’s all ready to go. We just wait.”

For more on the film, included what cast is locked in and why Theresa Palmer may no longer be involved, hit the jump.

Filming on Mad Max: Fury Road has already been subject to delays.  The six-month $100 million shoot was meant to kick off August 2010 with stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in New South Wales, before the start date was revised to February of next year.  The production has been pushed back again, this time a full year to February 2012.

Even worse, The Australian [via /Film] reports that “the high Australian dollar could ultimately kill the film as its budget grows.”  The first delay was for meteorological reasons, but the report doesn’t specify the nature of this postponement.  Is an ever-bloating budget to blame?  Hit the jump for a brief recap of what we know about the Mad Max reboot.

Riley Keough (The Runaways) is apparently close to landing a role in director George Miller’s fourth Mad Max installment, Mad Max: Fury Road. If cast, the young actress would join Tom Hardy (Inception), Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult (Clash of the Titans) in the film. According to Heat Vision, Keough would play “one of the ‘Five Wives,’ a group of women that Hardy must protect from the bad guys.” Sounds pretty self-explanatory if you ask me…

In case you’re lacking your daily Riley Keough “fun fact,” here’s one for you: she is the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and musician/actor Danny Keough. If my math is correct, that makes her the granddaughter of “The King” Elvis Presley. For more info on the film and to see what other rock and roll ties exist within the cast, hit the jump.

With Christopher Nolan’s Inception getting released this weekend, it’s finally time to post a ton of interviews with the cast. Thankfully, I loved the movie, and think you will as well.  Trust me, while this summer has been a letdown in terms of quality movies, Inception is a stunning achievement and it demonstrates what can happen when a brilliant filmmaker gets a ton of money and creative freedom.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I got to participate in a small roundtable interview with Tom Hardy.  During the interview Hardy talked about what it was like to work for Christopher Nolan, how did he keep track of everything that was going on in the film, working with the rest of the cast, how has Bronson changed his career, what’s up with the next Mad Max movie Fury Road, and a lot more.  If you’re a fan of this awesome actor, you’ll love the interview.  As usual, I’ve posted the transcript and the audio, so you can decide how you want to take in the interview:

Director George Miller is reportedly shooting Mad Max: Fury Road back-to-back with an unannounced sequel entitled Mad Max: Furiosa.  Twitch reports that the films are being shot back-to-back for a rapid release.  This is the first we’ve heard about a second sequel, let alone one that’s being shot back-to-back with Fury Road.  While this may sound surprising, some of you may remember in October 2009 when we reported that filming would take place over 30 weeks (an average shoot is about six weeks).  While that shooting schedule sounded like a crazy amount of time, star Tom Hardy recently told Steve that “Shooting is probably nine months.”  That’s quite a lot of time for one movie, but for two movies, it makes a lot more sense.

Earlier today I got to sit down with Tom Hardy (along with a few other online reporters) for an extended interview about his work in Christopher Nolan’s Inception.  Of course with Hardy scheduled to play Max Rockatansky in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, the conversation eventually segued into where the production is right now.  According to Hardy (who was very careful not to reveal too much):

“It’s a relaunch and revisit to the world. An entire restructuring.  That’s not to say that it’s not picking up or leaving off from the Mad Max you know already, but it’s a nice re-take on the entire world using the same character, depositing him in the same world but bringing him up to date by 30 years.”

Much more after the jump:

It turns out the rumor last week that Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy may star in George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” turned out to be true.  Hardy will play “Mad” Max Rockatansky, the role made popular by Mel Gibson in Miller’s 1979 post-apocalyptic action-flick, “Mad Max”.  Hardy is getting big name recognition for his performance in “Bronson” and he’ll next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated film, “Inception”.  As for Charlize Theron, she’s Charlize Theron and since she’s both attractive and can act, she doesn’t have a tough time getting offered roles.  Grab all the gasoline you can and hit the jump for more details.

While some may have been skeptical about George Miller actually making a 4th “Mad Max” film, according to the director, pre-production starts next week on the latest installment currently titled “Mad Max: Fury Road”.  Also, the director was asked about the rumors that Charlize Theron would be starring in the film.  He responded by saying, “It could be Mel, it could be anyone, in fact I’m looking around at these faces to see if anyone’s quite interesting here.”

The other bit of news that came out today is the film might have a budget of $100 million dollars and it’ll be filming for over six months!  More after the jump: