Sequel Bits: 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' 'Avatar' Technology, And The Uncertain Status Of 'Top Gun 2'

NO PHOTOS

The best sequel news today is a blast of set photos from the new Mad Max movie that reveal some weapons, vehicles, and bad guys that we haven't seen before. After the break, you'll find:

Cinecommunity, via io9, has a great set of spy pics and concept art from George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, which stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in a new, long-in-development story of the wasteland dweller Max Rockatansky, originally played by Mel Gibson. Click the small images below to enlarge.Collider also has a long synopsis and cast list, complete with names for many of the characters. They're pretty post-apocalyptically crazy, so prepare yourself:

 Mad Max is caught up with a group of people fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by the Imperator Furiosa. This movie is an account of the Road War which follows. It is based on the Word Burgers of the History Men and eyewitness accounts of those who survived.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" also stars Nicholas Hoult ("X-Men: First Class") as Nux; Hugh Keays-Byrne ("Mad Max," "Sleeping Beauty") as Immortan Joe; and Nathan Jones ("Conan the Barbarian") as Rictus Erectus. Collectively known as The Wives, Zoe Kravitz ("X-Men: First Class") plays Toast, Riley Keough ("Magic Mike") is Capable, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley ("Transformers: Dark of the Moon") is Splendid. They are joined by supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw as The Dag and Courtney Eaton as Fragile, both of whom are making their big screen debuts. Also featured in the movie are Josh Helman as Slit, Jennifer Hagan as Miss Giddy, and singer/songwriter/performer iOTA as Coma-Doof Warrior.

James Cameron has been in the early stages of software design to facilitate Avatar sequels for a while, and a new Variety report goes into some detail about what Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment, Peter Jackson's Weta Digital and vfx software maker Autodesk are putting together for Avatar 2 and beyond.

The whole goal is to create an efficient virtual set space where actors can be seen in the final film environment in real time, and where changes can be made to those sets on the fly. The collaboration between the three companies has achieved that, says the trade, with tech allowing directors to " immediately view playback of actors within their digital environments and see everything exactly as it will appear on the screen."

Here are a couple new international movie posters, for Skyfall and Resident Evil: Retribution, via IMPAwards.

Finally, on a much more somber note, there was word late last week that Tom Cruise was spending some time at the Naval Air Station in Fallon, NV researching current practices and drone technology as preparation for Top Gun 2. After the tragic suicide of proposed director Tony Scott, the status of the Top Gun sequel is very uncertain. The project was originally predicated on the reunion of Cruise, director Scott, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Peter Craig and Christopher McQuarrie have worked on the script for Top Gun 2, which was planning to roll with Tom Cruise reprising the role of Maverick in some manner.