In the 25 years since the movie’s release, Waterworld has enjoyed a long shelf life as a home video and cable television staple, as well as a perennial theme park attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. Waterworld screenwriter Peter Rader (c) attends the premiere of Awake with directors Lisa Leeman (l) and Paola di Florio (r) in 2014. “She had press credentials, and had seen it before me,” he says, laughing. The writer had another reason to be pleased with the film’s release: He met his future wife two weeks before the premiere.
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“When it came out, people were like ‘This movie isn’t so bad - it’s pretty good!’” Rader recalls.
Read more: What happened to Kevin Costner?įunnily enough, all that negative press paid off: Waterworld topped the box office charts during its opening weekend, and while it fell short of crossing the $100 million line domestically, it earned close to $200 million worldwide. “It’s almost like circling sharks,” Rader says. And the press delighted in cataloguing its many miseries as the release date approached. In the end, Waterworld ended up shooting for 166 days at a then-staggering cost of $175 million, making it the most expensive movie ever made at the time. And Kevin just left Hollywood at that point.”
I was also reading stuff in the press and it appeared like Costner took over the editing and locked out. “I was in peripheral contact with various producers, and they would share stories at various points. “Costner was having to carry the movie, while his marriage was falling apart,” Rader says. The ship docks in a scene from the film 'Waterworld', 1995. Do all of your coverage in a tank or a stage.’” Do you have any advice for me?’ And Spielberg was unequivocal: ‘Do not shoot on water! You’re going to need a couple of shots on water, so use second unit for that. “Kevin said, ‘Steven, I’m doing this Waterworld movie, and we’re shooting on water. Read more: Films that lost their stars a fortune
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The writer adds that Spielberg - who barely survived his own trial by water during the legendarily difficult production of his 1975 blockbuster Jaws - warned Reynolds of those complications during a pre-production phone call.
“The complications of producing this movie in a practical environment were staggering,” Rader tells Yahoo Entertainment ahead of the film’s silver anniversary on July 28. But when Waterworld washed ashore in cinemas 25 years ago this summer, all anyone could talk about was the out-of-control budget and behind-the-scenes creative battles that culminated with Costner replacing Reynolds in the editing room.Īccording to Waterworld screenwriter, Peter Rader, the source of the movie’s many troubles stemmed from one fateful decision: the choice to shoot the entire film on the open water rather than in a controlled environment like a studio water tank. Set in a dystopian tomorrow where the polar ice caps have melted, erasing “dryland” and bathing the world in water, the movie was conceived as an ambitious aquatic Western with a science-fiction twist. Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds learned that lesson the hard way during the production of their 1995 action epic, Waterworld.
Memo to all aspiring filmmakers: When Steven Spielberg tells you not to do something, you’d be wise to listen.
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