The western NSW Riverina town of Hay will have to wait a bit longer for a starring role in one of Australia's most successful film franchises.
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The production company behind the Mad Max series, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, says it will not start filming in Hay until June or July next year.
Mad Max director George Miller announced in April that the next film in the series, a prequel to 2015's 'Fury Road' titled 'Furiosa', would be shot in NSW including in its western regions.
A Hay businesses later confirmed that the western Riverina town was in line to serve as one of the film's locations.
Furiosa was forecast to the biggest film ever to be made in Australia, pumping $350 million into the economy and employing 850 people and starring Chris Hemsworth, Anya Taylor-Joy and Yahya Abdul Mateen II.
As of this week, Kennedy Miller Mitchell is still working on post-production for its fantasy romance film 'Three Thousand Years of Longing' and is not currently shooting 'Furiosa'.
There hasn't been much information released about the Furiosa project since the initial announcement.
Ms Taylor-Joy prompted some speculation that filming had begun after she posted a video on Instagram on July 25 of herself with hair and makeup that appeared related to a Mad Max setting.
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Under the current NSW lockdown, any film cast and crew will need permits to leave Greater Sydney to enter the Riverina and will be required to stay in isolation when not working.
A Screen NSW spokesperson said the NSW Government continued to work closely with the film sector to ensure that production safely continues in while safeguarding the NSW community.
"All productions are required to operate within the published Public Health Orders and must be able to produce a bespoke COVID-Safe Plan fit for their circumstances," the spokesperson said.
"Any queries regarding the filming schedule for Furiosa are a matter for the production to comment on."
The Sydney lockdown has reportedly caused another one of Mr Hemsworth's projects, a sequel to the Netflix action film 'Extraction', to shift locations from NSW to the Czech Republic.