For years now, the Hollywood remake has been primarily the territory of shoddy cash-ins on the success of beloved works of cinema. What if the movie industry saved its full reboots, remakes, and reimaginings for solid ideas whose first attempts at big-screen success went spectacularly awry?
When abig movie flops at the box office, it tends to prompt a ton of discussion surrounding the reasons for its failure. One fascinating landmark moment in nineties cinema prompted so much discussion before, during, and after its tremendous failure, that the full accounting of its real-world impact is far more fascinating than the film itself.
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Waterworldtakes place hundreds of years into the future,in a post-apocalyptic worldwhere the sea level has risen to just below average airplane cruising altitude. Every landmass known to man has long since been absorbed into the sea, leaving what remains of humanity to struggle to survive on floating barges made of scrap. Some survivors hold out hope for a mythical patch of dry land that exists somewhere in the distance.
Kevin Costner portraysThe Mariner, a taciturn drifter who gets dragged into protecting a pair of women from brutal pirates. Mariner is charged with the safety of Enola, a woman who has a supposed map to dry land tattooed on her back. These heroes must outwit their enemies, take dangerous risks and experience the world as it once was in the hopes of finding a new world for humanity to flourish in. Great premise, a ton of good ideas here, shame about the final product.
By now, the tale ofWaterworld’s behind-the-scenes disaster is a minor Hollywood legend. Though the budget would hardly worry the average Marvel movie today, at the time, this was the most expensive movie ever made. At over $170 million, its setting puts most ofits overinflated budget on-screenby fully realizing the creative world of the title.
The film was shot in an enclosed chunk of the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Hawaii, where nature routinely interfered. At one point, the entire set was destroyed by a hurricane. Kevin Costner was almost killed at another time when the sailboat he was tied to hit a squall. Costner’s brush with death might have reasonably affected his mood, as he was reportedly extremely difficult to work with. TheDances With Wolvesstar supposedly rejected the soundtrack, forcing the studio to hire a new composer.Recently disgraced filmmaker Joss Whedonwas flown out to issue last-minute script rewrites, which essentially amounted to conceding to Costner’s demands. Regular clashes eventually led director Kevin Reynolds to quit the production before release.
Upon release,Waterworldwas a massive hit, raking in the ninth-highest box office of the year. Ironically, the film performed extremely well overseas, but it still wasn’t enough. The film’s budget had ballooned so massively out of control that it was still considered one of the most infamous flops in film history. Through a variety of revenue streams, the film did eventually become profitable,largely through VHS salesand TV broadcasting rights, but its failure to meet expectations remains the primary thingWaterworldis known for. The financial reception was lukewarm, and the critical reception wasn’t much better. Reviews at the time largely considered it ambitious but soulless, all flash and no substance. While many praised its dedication and inventive set design, most were happy to decry its by the numbers plot, dull writing, uninteresting characters, and unabashed theft from theMad Maxfranchise.
The failure ofWaterworldis, in some ways, a tragedy. The film is completely derivative, so much so that the filmmakers started with the concept of ripping offMad Maxfirst and crafted a narrative from there. A savvy viewer might recognize the plot as identical to the averageMad Maxproject. In fact, it’s extremelycomparable toFury Road, after reversing the roles of water and sand. Despite this, the change in execution provides enough fresh blood to make the concept imminently watchable. The jet ski riding pirates, the scrap metal colonies, the reverent worship of dirt, it’s all very interesting world-building that, in a better film, could lead someplace fascinating. This world could be the stage for a huge variety of original and engaging stories, possibly even including a better version of the one it got.
Simple stories, and even unoriginal ones, are not necessarily bad. Some of the best films ever made came out of simple twists on long-established formats.Waterworldwas a clever idea that gotthe budget it deservedbut suffered setback after setback until its failure was a foregone conclusion. A clever filmmaker could take the concept of a waterlogged planet Earth, populated by people doing whatever they have to do to survive, and turn it into something truly special.Waterworldmay have sunk the first time, but maybe sending this ship out a second time could reveal a new horizon.
