This thread is so funny in 20/20 hindsight with the success and deserving praise Fury Road had.
My Vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur1914996/ratings

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Damn right

Nobody want MEL again!

theres only one mad max so this analogy really has no meaning lol since there are multiple of actor who played james bond. and tom hardy cant be judged at this moment since the movie isnt out

Mad Max is the James Bond of postapocalyptia, Gibson was the Connery.

BTW, as for Miller's stated reason for not filming in Australia, I found this article from Andrew Urban of Urbancinefile.com, who spoke with Miller at the AFI A16d0wards show back in late 2001.
22/11/2001: MAD MAX 4 IS FINISHED
George Miller has finished his screenplay for Mad Max 4 on the eve of this years AFI Awards presentation; at the awards party (Miller is Patron of the AFI) he celebrated both the awards and his completed script with a beer and a boutique portion of fish and chips.
In top spirits, Miller told Urban Cinefile he was pleased with this final draft and casting was "in process" but wouldnt be drawn on details.
"Unfortunately," he said, "we wont be able to shoot in Australia, although Id dearly love to. We need some real big stretches of desert where the cars dont get bogged; those deserts in South Australia would do but its not practical for the cars. So well have to shoot elsewhere."
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=5523&s=News_files
So it would appear that by as early as 2001, Miller was set on filming somewhere other than Australia.

'WENN' news article dated March 3, 2003 (via IMDb).
Iraq Crisis Restrains Mad Max
Work on the latest Mad Max film has been halted due to a possible conflict with Iraq. The fourth installment of the action franchise - Fury Road - was
5b4set to start filming in Namibia in July
, but cautious Fox executives want to wait until the Middle East situation has calmed before the project goes ahead. Chairman Jim Gianopulos says, "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."
Both original star Mel Gibson and director George Miller are signed to do the picture and are determined to film the blockbuster in Namibia
. A release date of summer 2004 is in place but will be adapted according to when the production can get underway.
http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2003-03-03
'Studio Briefing' article dated September 23, 2003 (via IMDb).
'Mad Max' Sequel Appears Dead
Prospects of Mel Gibson returning to the screen in his Mad Max persona faded today (Tuesday) when Daily Variety reported that the actor is in talks with Warner Bros. to star in Under and Alone, about an ATF undercover agent who infiltrated a motorcycle gang.
Gibson had originally intended to shoot Mad Max: Fury Road in the southern Africa country of Namibia in May
but halted preproduction citing securi111cty concerns following the outbreak of war with Iraq.
Production offices in Swakopmund were shut down
, dozens of contracts and leases for homes, apartments, car rentals, and caterers were canceled, and sets built for the $100-million movie were warehoused. Gibson later plunged into post-production of his biblical film The Passion, seemingly snuffing out the fire on the back burner, where the Mad Max feature had been placed. It had been reported earlier that
Gibson decided to shoot the film in Namibia because George Lucas had booked all available studio space at Fox Studios in Australia to shoot Star Wars: Episode 3
. Lucas completed principal production there last week.
http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2003-09-23
A couple of Variety articles covering the issue. First one dated February 27, 2003.
Threat of war stalling 'Max'
Logistical problems with Namibia prompt delay
By CLAUDE BRODESSER, DON GROVES
The prospect of a war in Iraq has prompted 20th Century Fox and Icon to postpone until fall the production start of "Mad Max: Fury Road."
The fourth installment of the Mel Gibson series
was expected to begin filming in Namibia in July
. Instead, writer-director George Miller won't unleash the Road Warrior and his futuristic mayhem until sometime in the fall.
"Any time you do a show like this, it is a massive undertaking with enormous prep time," said Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment. "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. What we do have firmly in place is Mel and George."
Gianopulos said the studio, Gibson and Miller are fully committed to shoot the film in Namibia
. Fox had penciled in a tentative summer 2004 release date, but Gianopulos said the studio won't know if the film can keep that date until an actual start date is set. Fox also has on the summer schedule the Alex Proyas-directed Will Smith starrer "I, Robot."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117881416?refCatId=1605
And an excerpt from an article dated March 7, 2004.
Moreover, Icon's production of the highly touted fourth installment of the "Mad Max" series was postponed last February.
At the time, the
impending war in Iraq and the presence of Angolan rebels and refugees made the studio twitchy about lensing in Namibia in southern Africa
; the project is still being developed.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117901302?refcatid=1700&printerf riendly=true
And an excerpt from another dated February 23, 2003 which indicates the possibility of some filming in Sydney.
Adding to the local industry's woes, it's believed shingle Kennedy Miller Prods., producer of the "Mad Max" sequel "Fury Road," in which Mel Gibson will reprise the role he created in 1979,
have decided to film on location in Namibia rather than outback New South Wales.
Kennedy Miller and helmer George Miller are notoriously press shy, but Panavision Australia topper Dennis Noonan says he believes
they chose that African locale because they can accommodate the cast and crew much closer to the desert than is possible in Oz.
Noonan still hopes Panavision will get the chance to service the production in Namibia. Also, there's
unconfirmed talk that "Fury Road" may shoot some interiors in Oz.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111788

No, actually I'm not mis-remembering it. The production offices IN AUSTRALIA were listed on imdb as being closed down in 2004 when the project status changed. You may have read something about Namibia as an alternate location but it was not mentioned back then. Australia was the intended original location in 2004 when it was shut down. That carried on until floods there became a new hurdle which caused greenery and spoiled the apocalyptic look a few years ago when much of the current cast anticipated shooting.
http://www.twitter.com/Jawsphobia

It would have been good for Australia and would have happened before all the flooding and so on. Revisionism says it was stopped because "there was a war on" but big movies like the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix flicks were being made there and films continued despite the ongoing wars.
You've mis-remembered the facts. If you were watching the IMDb page carefully back in 2003/4, you would have known that just like it is today, that movie was going to film in Namibia. Miller said at the time it was something to do with the terrain in Broken Hill and other areas being incompatable for the vehicles being built (though that didn't stop him from trying to film it in Australia this time around). The Iraq War caused problems with the movement of cars and equipment, security for hundreds of crew members, problems with insurance and completion bonding, and the worsening of monetary exchange rates that drove the cost of the film too high.

Gibson had Fury Road on his imdb acting page in 2004 and I was watching carefully around the time The Passion came out. Production offices were eventually closed and the staff dismissed, but the script and production had been ready to go with Mel at that time, yes. It is a big shame that version didn't happen. It would have been good for Australia and would have happened before all the flooding and so on. Revisionism says it was stopped because "there was a war on" but big movies like the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix flicks were being made there and films continued despite the ongoing wars. Also, the invasion of Iraq was in 2003, but the Fury Road project was still coming together and ready to go in 2004. I suspect that Mel was absorbed in the aftermath of The Passion, its financial windfall, and his return2000 to directing. A Mad Max follow-up would have been good to keep him accessible.
I do wonder how much he is involved now, with Icon supposedly doing the Tom hardy version. I know he has given his blessing. Maybe it is just a contractual connection.
http://www.twitter.com/Jawsphobia

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I never blamed George Miller for that issue. Mel was listed as on that project long after The Passion hit theaters. It seemed like the reasonable follow-up, going from serious to Max territory. But I still think Mel should climb back into the car and take the on-ramp to Fury Road.
THAT's the movie I'd like to see, old rickety survivor Max, not some young whipper snapper going through the motions. Mel is a big part of that brand for me anyway. Mel needs to shake his head.
It's too bad Passion made so much money.
I'm just not excited about The Odyssy either. How generic can you be.
But the video game of Fury Road is likely a better bet than a film with a new actor. Recasting Max would just be a hollow exercise.
"X"
http://jawsphobia.blogspot.com/

I personally don't care whose fault it is. Without Mel, it's just not Mad Max, and I'm not at all interested in Fury Road if Mel is not in it. If that's Mel's choice so be it. If it's George Miller's decision, well, that's alright too. Either way, I don't really care, if we get someone like Shia Labeouf (spell it wrong? I don't care) to play Max Rockatansky, or anyone who isn't Mel, then I just won't see it.
I'm gonna kill you all kinds a' dead.

haha, funny story..Mel Gibson was born in New York, so, Max TECHNICALLY was never played by an Australian. He doesn't even have his accent anymore, it is 1c84completely gone.
I am looking for a dare-to-be-great situation- Lloyd Dobbler

Thomas Jane is a good actor, yes, but any actor cast to play Max Rockatansky will be an Australian.

I would want Mel, too, but I think Tomas Jane would be a good yunger replacement if Miller goes that route.

if this actually IS a part 4 in the series
Miller already has a script and has done the storyboards for a
sequel
. He's been working on it for years. If another Mad Max movie is going to be made, it's going to be
that
movie and no other.
From what I understand it was Miller who decided (allegedly) not to cast Mel. He stated he felt Gibson was "too old", and he stated it bluntly.
My take on it is that Miller just assumed at the time that Mel wasn't interested anymore, having at that point foregone acting gigs for directing his own movies. Back in 2003 when Mad Max 4 was about to film, Mel was attached to the movie, but just barely. Miller had said that Mel almost grudgingly agreed to do it. That was 5 years ago and Miller probably now feels Mel is definitely not interested anymore.
But things have changed recently. Now comes word that16d0 Mel is back as an actor. If Mel is agreeable to returning as Max, I believe Miller would say yes. He would be a damn fool not to. In addition, the movie Miller has in mind would cost well over $100 million, maybe up to $150 million. It had originally been geared for a Summer tentpole for the studio. I'm sure Warners would push strongly for Mel's return (if that's an option) before dumping that kind of money into it. There's far more risk if Miller casts a relative unknown as Max, which he's probably going to do if Mel says no.
Now, if Miller really feels that Mel is "too old", that might be true for the movie Miller currently envisions, but the movie can be tweaked to accomidate Mels age. I don't think much has to be done anyway because the post-apocalyptic world would make anyone age pretty fast.

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I liked Fury Road.
George Miller did a good job.
I personally would have preferred to see Mel going through all that.
But yeah, it is ultimately the directing that makes it work.

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I would very much prefer a new Mad Max without Mel Gibson. So I guess this movie is more for me, than for you. Mel Gibson is a tool, a bad actor, not to mention too old for the part (if it's going to be an action movie, which it is).
You don't speak for everyone. I wouldn't have even commented if it weren't for your assertion of what the audience wants to see. I don't think you really know.

The audience does not want to see another Mad Max without him.
Frankly, while it is interesting to revisit a character and
his alter ego years later and speculate on what may have happened
to him in the world of Mad Max, it would be deadly boring to
simply re-populate that world with new actors.
Justice League of America, for example, has a cast that leaves me
saying ho-hum! There are so many reasons that movie will
fall apart.
If Mel doesn't want to play Max, simply retire the character
or do it animated.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
(Worth discussing.)