Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks: Two leading men, two big upcoming movies, though neither feature is exactly new.
Gibson, 46, last seen in this summer's "Signs," has signed on to return to the "Mad Max" franchise for a $25 million paycheck, Variety reports.
After an absence of 17 years, this will mark the star's fourth stab at the apocalyptic series, which consists of 1979's "Mad Max," 1981's "Mad Max: The Road Warrior" and 1985's "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," which also featured Tina Turner.
The new Max adventure, to be called "Fury Road," is set to begin shooting in Australia next May, says the trade paper. Director and cowriter of the series, George Miller (who also did "The Witches of Eastwick" and "Babe") would not reveal any details of the storyline, but Variety reports he will return to helm the picture.
Meanwhile, Hanks, 46, is set to star next summer in "The Ladykillers," an updated remake of the classic 1955 black comedy that starred Alec Guinness, according to Variety. (This was before Guinness became an international star in 1957's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and then re-established his stature with 1977's "Star Wars.")
The Coen Brothers ("Fargo") are writing and directing the remake, in which Hanks plays an eccentric Southern professor who assembles a group of double-crossing thieves to pull off a heist aboard a riverboat casino, only to be overheard in their scheme by their landlady -- leaving the poor woman's life in jeopardy. Hence, the title.
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