Kevin Costner’s Mega project Waterworld flopped legendary in 1995. But everything shouldn’t have been so bad if the main actor and his director had taken some advice from Steven Spielberg. The film runs on TV on Tuesday evening.
The story of Waterworld required an elaborate shoot
In a future in which the continents of water are covered, the last remnant of humanity is fighting for its continued swimming cities. The supposed rescue: a mythical place called Dryland. But nobody knows where Dryland is.
In search of clues, the villain Deacon (Dennis Hopper) attacks a city on which Enola (Tina Majorino) lives together with her adoptive mother Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn). A stranger (Kevin Costner), who is only known under the name Mariner, is involved in the argument. What secret is Enola?
Director Kevin Reynolds had to create a complex world for this dystopian future version of the earth, which also moved on an element hated by filmmakers: water.
Steven Spielberg’s warning to Kevin Costner
Reynolds wanted to make the entire film on a real body of water to transfer the roughness of the world to the cinema. Kevin Costner supported him as a powerful star and producer of the film. Where does Steven Spielberg come into play?
Waterworld author Peter Rader remembered a conversation that the director conducted with Spielberg, reported Yahoo. Reynolds said on the phone in Spielberg:
Steven, I turn this Waterworld film and we turn on the water. Do you have any advice for me?
And Spielberg’s advice was clear:
Don’t turn on the water! […] Make all your recordings in a tank or on a set.
Because nature is unpredictable. It is not without reason that water -heavy blockbusters such as Titanic or Avatar 2 were shot in huge artificial pools, where the tides cannot be thwarted to the shooting.
Reynolds and Costner ignored Spielberg’s advice – and it came as it had to come. During the first day of shooting, a hurrican swept across the shooting area and destroyed large parts of an expensive, floating set that formed the basis of the first act.
After further complications, Waterworld finally came up 166 shooting days Until the completion. Originally, the blockbuster was supposed to cost 100 million: the budget swelled to $ 175 million, at that time a film was never more expensive. The global pick-up result of $ 264 million was disappointed.
When and where does Waterworld run on TV?
Nitro shows Waterworld on March 11, 2025 at 8:15 p.m. Alternatively, you can borrow or buy the film from VoD providers like Amazon Prime.
This article was first published by Moviepilot in a similar form in November 2023.