Mad Max stars sneak into Namibia

Her co-stars in the anticipated film, Tom Hardy and Nicholas Hoult, both British, are expected to jet in within the next 48 hours.

Namibian Sun understands that the actors, to star in Mad Max: Fury Road, will be at the coastal resort town of Swakopmund during the shooting, at a secret location in the Namib Desert.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Erica Akwenye said the crew is in the country, but could not confirm the arrival of individual actors.

“They have been in the country for the past few days but only people involved in the movie can tell who exactly is in the country at the moment,” she said.

Telling a story of breakdown of society, murder and vengeance, the movie is expected to have handsome spin-offs to Namibia, similar if not bigger than those derived from the productions of Flight of the Phoenix, Beyond Borders or Gallowwalker that were shot in Namibia in recent years.

Theron, the Oscar-winning South African-born actress, and Hardy are the leading characters in the film directed by George Miller from Australia.

Reports suggest that shooting of the latest version of this serialised movie was originally scheduled to begin last year, but rare high levels of rain in the envisaged Australian shoot location made flowers bloom, which detracted from the post-apocalyptic feeling that Miller had in mind.

This counted directly in favour of Namibia, which has since been identified as location for initial shooting.

Reports suggest that all persons involved in production of the movie have signed confidential agreements, meant to keep tight lids on matters related to this episode.

Containers of equipments needed for production, stored under tight security in Port Kembla, New South Wales, were then transported overland to Namibia in January already, sources say.

Hardy has grown a bushy beard to portray the film's lead character, Max Rockatansky, while Theron recently cropped her hair to play a woman named Furiosa.