No Mel Gibson for 'Mad Max 4'

Director George Miller has stated that Mel Gibson will not be appearing in the proposed Mad Max 4 film.

Speaking to Moviehole, Miller said: "Though I think there will be another Mad Max, the time has gone where Mel can be in it. I think the last opportunity was about four years ago and you know the character's lean and hungry. He was twenty one when he first played Mad Max and he's now in his fifties."

The original Mad Max director, who also helmed Babe and The Witches of Eastwick, believes that Gibson is "not into acting so much anymore and I think he just loves producing, writing and directing... the time's gone when Mel can run around the wasteland."

Miller also revealed how close he came to shooting a fourth film in the post-apocalyptic series with Gibson involved: "We were about three months off shooting when the Iraqi war came and the American dollar collapsed against the Australian dollar so we lost our budget."