Well, that was fast. Barely a week since they were first rumored to be a part of the new "Mad Max" sequel, the news is official — Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are joining the cast of the George Miller-directed film.

According to separate reports in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, both actors have signed onto "Mad Max: Fury Road," the fourth installment in the action-packed franchise. Read more...

Charlize Theron isn't only up for a role in "Mad Max 4." No. She's also been keeping busy... by getting busy!

Last night, Charlize kissed a girl. A woman really, from the look of things. Hard to tell with their faces smashed together like that, isn't it? The kiss -- and the $140,000 that paid for it -- was part of a charity event supporting OneXOne, an organization committed to helping children in developing regions. You may remember OneXOne from the recent "Entourage" season finale, in which Matt Damon, as himself, hassled movie star Vinnie Chase (Adrian Grenier) to get involved.

Theron was initially on stage to auction off a trip to Africa, complete with a Nelson Mandela meet-and-greet, Us Magazine reports. The bidding topped out at $37,000, so the the actress sweetened the deal by offering up a 7-second kiss to a man for $130,000. One lucky lady upped that ante to 20 seconds for $140,000, and she took the prize. Hit the jump to get a look at the big picture. Read more...

The complete and utter collapse of George Miller's planned "Justice League" adaptation hasn't kept the filmmaker down for too long. Why should it, especially when the Australian director has more "Mad Max" adventures up his sleeve?

A fourth outing in the post-apocalyptic "Mad Max" universe has been in the works for several years with casting rumors aplenty. And DE-casting, in the case of franchise lead Mel Gibson. Today brings word of the highest-profile casting gossip to date for the looking-increasingly-likely sequel. Read more...

A year ago, it seemed a remake of Jerome Salle's French thriller "Anthony Zimmer" was all set to begin filming in early 2009 with Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron starring and Bharat Nalluri ("The Crow: Salvation") directing. All of those players have now passed their respective hats though. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Theron is out and will potentially be replaced by Angelina Jolie.

The English-language redo, which is titled "The Tourist," had already seen Cruise replaced with "Terminator Salvation" actor Sam Worthington. Reportedly Nalluri is also off the film and producers seek a filmmaker who will work well with Jolie. Interestingly enough, the female half of Brangelina just finished shooting the action/thriller "Salt," for which she had replaced Cruise in the gender-switched lead role. Read more...

My long-standing unusual relationship with Charlize Theron has been well documented on this website. For those flabbergasted, that I, a 5'9'' (NOT 5'8'' as some would have you believe) nebbishy dork could have any kind of a rapport with one of the most desirable women on the planet, well in most cases you'd be right. But doesn't the fact that we have something, anything, give all of us hope? Dreams can come true, my friends.

To bring most of you up to speed, here's all you need to know from my previous four interviews with Charlize. A) she likes to call me really vulgar things. B) we have enjoyed chatting about "The Hills" ever since I once made her look like "a nana" for not knowing anything about the MTV cash cow. C) she's just generally awesome, flirty, saucy, and fun.

The below came on the red carpet for Charlize's latest "The Burning Plain," now in theaters (go see it! support our favorite actress!) and it's not our best collective work but still, how many times do you get to see an Oscar winner say "butt naked"?

Before diving in with the coming week's releases, let's take a quick look at last week's. I think the poll results usually paint a pretty telling picture of who is reading this blog. The weekend's big box office winner, Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," failed to pick up a single vote in the poll. "Sorority Row" took top spot in the poll (70% of your votes), followed in a distant second by "Whiteout" and "9," which were basically tied, at 15% and 13% respectively.

My takeaway is that you readers are on the younger side -- ie below 30, or at least not yet parents -- and that you prefer spectacle to schmaltz. That's definitely an overly broad generalization, but I do find the fact the weekend's biggest earner, by quite a wide margin I might add, didn't even pick up one vote in last week's poll. Now, let's take a look at what's in store this week... Read more...

All sorts of news flying around the web today. Some of this would have run earlier on the blog, had it not been for a midday technical SNAFU. Here's a round-up of what we missed:

-- I don't know if it's the "first" to hit the web (I'm pretty sure it's not), but IGN UK have posted their review of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." It's mostly high praise for Stephen Sommers' high-energy action flick, and I couldn't be more pleased. I'd been feeling uneasy about "Joe" in recent months, but all of those fears were literally BLOWN THE EFF UP when I saw the movie myself this past weekend. (IGN UK)

-- "Monster Squad" director Fred Dekker revealed at a weekend screening of his family-friendly classic that he's currently hard at work on a script for "Cliffhanger 2." For those who don't recall, "Cliffhanger" stars Sylvester Stallone as a mountain climbing rescue worker who ends up pursuing an international gang of thieves along snowy mountain peaks. Word emerged back in May that a reboot was in the works, and now it looks like we have further confirmation. (FirstShowing) Read more...

Editor's note: Birthday Bash used to live here on MTV Movies Blog. It somehow felt more Hollywood Crush-y though, so I've given Wigler the boot and sent him packing over to Lindsay's space. Make sure to rag on his new pink drapes.

FROM HOLLYWOOD CRUSH: Just as everyone has an opinion, a favorite meal and a nose — albeit a fake one at times — so too does everyone have a birthday. Even celebrities. Here at Birthday Bash (a feature making its debut on Hollywood Crush, as our brother, Movies Blog, has gifted it to us) it’s my mission to salute the fine actors, filmmakers and other Hollywood heroes that are celebrating their special day this week. After all, it’s cheaper than mailing a cake.

This week, we're celebrating an island-bound actress, a twin pair of Frankensteins and a "Monster"-ous Hollywood talent.

Continue reading A 'Lost' Survivor And A Few Monsters Attend Our Inaugural Birthday Bash

I was going to begin this by noting what a political turn Charlize Theron's career has taken in recent years. A scan of her IMDB page reveals that she's always favored roles with some message-driven weight to them, and that the comedic and romantic selections are really pretty rare. Well now you can consider the status quo maintained.

Theron will be keeping to her political roots with a starring role in "Florence of Arabia." Variety reports that the actress/producer acquired the rights to the satirical novel, written by Christopher Buckley, to be developed under her Denver and Delilah Films banner. Read more...

From Newsroom blog: On Monday night's red carpet for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual gala, the focus was mostly on honoree, Oscar-winner and all-around swell guy Tom Hanks. That is, until our own Josh Horowitz had a chance to speak with Charlize Theron and the talk turned to stars of a very different variety.

Continue reading at Newsroom.MTV.com