Mel Gibson’s 2000 historical epic originally offered the villain role to Jude Law. Gibson rocketed onto the scene as a leading man with the release of George Miller’s first Mad Max movie in 1979, and he reprised his role as drifter Max Rockatansky for Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). After bidding farewell to this post-apocalyptic franchise, Gibson’s star power only grew with the release of Lethal Weapon in 1987, another movie that spawned a franchise.
