The reboot for the Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, has been in development for a long time. Part of that was out of the production’s control. Filming was set to begin in November 2011, but the location had to be changed after heavy rains changed the landscape of Broken Hill. The production then moved to Namibia, but the delays caused recasting and rearranging the actors’ schedules. Then in November 2013, the movie required heavy reshoots. The studio finally set down May 2015 for the release date, and yesterday was the first test screening.

Hit the jump to read the new synopsis along with the mixed reactions to the screening. The film stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Nathan Jones. Mad Max: Fury Road opens May 15, 2015.

First, here’s the new synopsis for Mad Max: Fury Road:

“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the fourth film of George Miller‘s Road Warrior/Mad Max franchise co-written and directed by Miller. The post-apocalyptic action film is set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order… There’s Max (played by TOM HARDY from The Dark Knight Rises), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And… Furiosa (played by CHARLIZE THERON from Prometheus), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.”

Reactions to the test screening were mixed. The Film Stage collected some positive ones:

Randy at AFTimes:

This IS the kind of Mad Max II/The Road Warrior on steroids, go-big-or-go-home, bug-nuts crazy, toss-you-in-the-deep-end mythology and put-it-all-out-there-in-case-we-never-make-another-one Mad Max Fury Road. This movie feels like thirty years of Miller holding in passion for a world that he built so long ago, exploding on the screen. You, remember the third act of The Road Warrior, the bad-ass truck chase that is still hailed as a masterpiece of filmmaking? You do? Good. Because that’s what this whole movie pretty much is-and it works! A chase that goes long and deep into the heart of Miller’s post-apocalyptic world, trying to get out of the Wasteland. It opens up and hardly slows down.

Kevin West:

Just came from a year in advance screening of “Mad Max Fury Road”. Weird to not see Gibson as Max but Tom Hardy holds it down just fine. Great action sequences and amazing post apocalyptic vehicles and costuming with awesome makeup.

And we’ve found some less-than-positive reactions. Our own editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub tweeted:

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD test screening was last night. Sorry to report, I didn’t hear good things. — Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) May 1, 2014

A reader also told us the following:

“Just saw a Mad Max advance screening. I can’t say much about it but let’s just hope they do tons of re-shoots before it’s released next year, or start again from scratch. Also Tom Hardy can’t stop doing the Bane voice. So annoying.”

I want to make something abundantly clear: these are not real reviews of the movie. We don’t know what the finished film looks like and neither do the filmmakers, which is why they have test screenings in the first place.

We all want this movie to be good, and it will be interesting to look back on this article when Mad Max: Fury Road is finally released.