Miller: 'Mad Max 4 will start in 2012'

Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller has revealed that his long-planned sequel will begin shooting in 2012.

Fury Road, which will see Tom Hardy step into Mel Gibson's role as Max Rockatansky, was delayed last year when unseasonal rain made Australia's Broken Hill region too fertile to use for the desert landscape backdrops.

Miller told Australia's Daily Telegraph: "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.

"All the contracts are signed. It's a locked-in film. It has been for 18 months now. We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year - weather permitting."

Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult are also expected to star in Fury Road, the fourth movie in the Mad Max series.