Waterworldis a 1995 film taking place in a world covered mostly by water. Kevin Costner plays the morally ambiguous Mariner, a figure who travels the world on his trimaran. All the while, there is talk of a mysterious “Dryland” out there somewhere. The Mariner soon finds himself caught up in a plot to find it involves a young girl named Enola and her guardian Helen.
Even people who’ve never seenWaterworldare probably familiar with its reputation. In popular culture,Waterworldoften has a reputation for being a flop. It’s also infamous for its troubled production, from actors getting injured to the production becoming more and more expensive. However, the problems behind the scenes could have started early on.
The Script Went Through Multiple Rewrites
Waterworldhad a lengthy production. Peter Rader wrote the script back in 1986, though it ended up shelved for around three years. During this time, various stories were used as inspirations for the film, fromMad Maxto the legendary Helen of Troy, after whom Helen in the film is named. Allegedly, Rader shelved the film after another screenwriter criticized it. By 1992,actor Kevin Costnerand director Kevin Reynolds were attached to the film, which had already undergone several rewrites. In some earlier drafts,
Waterworldwas actually intended as a children’s film, though the influence ofMad Maxinspired a darker, apocalyptic tone. Joss Whedon ofBuffy the Vampire Slayerand Marvel Cinematic Universe fame, was hired as an anonymous script doctor on the film. However, Whedon did not speak well of the experience, claiming that his job effectively boiled down to adding Costner’s ideas to the script.
The Project Went from a Rejected Low-Budget Film to a Big, Potential Blockbuster
Early on,Waterworldwas also meant to bea low-budget feature. At this point, producer Roger Corman rejected the film, as he feared it would be too costly to make. While these concerns would prove prophetic, at the time, it was believed the film would take only $5 million to film, a mere fraction of the $175 million budget the eventual film cost.
It wasn’t until Costner became part of the project thatWaterworldsought blockbuster status.In the interim, Largo Entertainment had previously considered developing the film as a mid-budget feature, hoping to reuse sets and costumes from earlier films to save on costs.
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The Location Was Plagued by Storms
Filming in a water tank was rejected in favor of filming at sea, although a water tank ultimately had to be built in the ocean for the film.Waterworld’s crew chose Hawaii as a filming location.Australia was also considered, but that was rejected when production was scheduled for the summer, as it would have been winter in Australia at the time of filming. Hawaii would have also given the filmmakers access to water where no land was visible.
Unfortunately, there were a few unprecedented issues with filming in Hawaii. The filming area was plagued by strong winds and rain, which caused problems on set and even disturbing shots. At one point, a hurricane caused millions of dollars worth of damage to the set. Local contractors, who provided things from food service to construction needs, involved with the production were also expensive because they knew they couldn’t be easily replaced. That said, one happy story came about during the Hawaiian filming. Allegedly, Kevin Costner made friends with a dolphin he called “Noodle,” even feeding it shrimp.
Allegedly, however, the problems were not without warning from a big name. Kevin Costner metwith Steven Spielbergfor advice for the film. Spielberg, who endured similar problemswhile filmingJaws, warned against shooting on water.
The Set Proved Dangerous for the Actors
Waterworldtakes place inan apocalyptic worldwhere most of the world is covered in water.Waterworldwouldn’t just prove dangerous for the fictional characters, but the actors involved, too. Filming on the trimaran boat proved especially dangerous. On the first day of filming, a sinking trimaran nearly drowned Jeanne Tripplehorn and Tina Majorino, who played Helen and Enola respectively. Kevin Costner would later get caught in a dangerous storm while tied to the mast.
Filming around water also proved dangerous in general. Stunt coordinator Norman Howell suffered a deadly decompression sickness while filming an underwater scene. Various extras and even Costner’s stunt double also nearly drowned during production. On a less serious note, filming often had to stop so that people could be taken to bathrooms on a barge.
Production Became More & More Expensive
As filming went on, costs kept increasing. Sets were damaged by weather and had to be rebuilt. Hurricanes shut down filming at least three different times. Despite what the filmmakers had hoped for with their filming locations, it also proved hard to get shots in the water without any visible land. Cameras had to be dealt with carefully as to avoid picking up the movement of the ocean.
Simulating life in a drowned world wasn’t easy. As the characters spend all their time in the sun, the actors had to be regularly spray-tanned. Ironically, expenses came at the price of making things look weathered, with new sets being painted to look ragged. By the end of filming, Hawaii had earned around $35 million from the film.Waterworldwas considered one of the most expensive films ever made at the time, but would soon be usurped byTitanic.
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Despite all the time and money spent in filmingWaterworld, quite a bit of footage did not make it into the final film. A three-hour version of the film was cut down to around 135 minutes for theaters. It was rumored that the studio worried the longer cut would flop after Costner’s previous film,Wyatt Earp, which also clocked in over three hours, didn’t fare well at the box office.
A later version of the film, intended for television, notably restored around 40 minutes of deleted content back to the film. That said, being for television, a few cuts were still made, such as some of the more violent scenes.
Waterworld Earned its Reputation from a Media Circus
Despite its reputation,Waterworlddidn’t necessarily fail at the box office. In truth, it actually ended up being 1995’s highest-grossing film. It made around $88 million in its home market. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to recoup its wildly expensive $175 million budget. It also doesn’t helpWaterworld’s reputation that studios at the time didn’t account too much for the international release.Waterworldactually earnedabout $176 millionaround the world, but that doesn’t account for various foreign shipping prices and taxes.
At-home releases and television licensingalso helped the film earn a profit. To some extent, media coverage of the expensive production probably had likely already condemned the film to be seen as a bomb, regardless of its actual success. Universal Studios was also able to use the film as a basis for a popular stunt show,Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular, at various parks, notably in Japan and Beijing, where guests were likely unfamiliar with the original film.
