Not Only Was 'Waterworld' A Complete Flop, It Was An Utter Disaster During Production
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The Movie Began As A 'Mad Max' Rip-Off
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In the mid-'80s, aspiring screenwriter Peter Rader wanted to get into Hollywood. So, he did what a lot of people did: he took a meeting with Roger Corman, the king of low budget filmmaking who launched the careers of Dennis Hopper, James Cameron, and Joe Dante. Rader explained what happened next to Starlog:
"I had a meeting with Roger Corman’s company in 1986 that stimulated the idea. I met with Brad Krevoy – who went on to produce Dumb And Dumber – and he offered me money to write and direct a Mad Max rip-off."
Rader wanted to differentiate his idea from the rest of the post-apocalyptic wasteland films cropping up at the time, so he decided to set his film on water. But Corman's company passed on the idea, believing it would cost the hefty fee of $5 million.
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The Script Was Rewritten Countless Times
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According to original screenwriter Paul Rader, he went through six or seven drafts of Waterworld before getting burnt out. Then, the script left his hands and went to David Twohy. The rewrites continued, and at some point the script wound up in the lap of Joss Whedon for an uncredited pass. According to the future brains behind Buffy, by the time he saw the script it was a real mess:
"Waterworld was a good idea, and the script was the classic, 'They have a good idea, then they write a generic script and don't really care about the idea.' When I was brought in, there was no water in the last 40 pages of the script. It all took place on land, or on a ship, or whatever. I'm like, 'Isn't the cool thing about this guy that he has gills?' And no one was listening."
Even Kevin Costner admits they probably shouldn’t have rushed into production with an unfinished script, as he explained to SF Gate:
"We shouldn't have green-lighted this movie until the script was finished. I do movies that I know are already written well. Except for Waterworld. From a producing standpoint, I tried to manage and control a story that was not there – and kept trying to build a story."
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Kevin Costner Supposedly Demanded Computer-Generated Hair
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Stars are often known for their egos. So maybe it's not so crazy that Waterworld’s star, Kevin Costner, wanted the special effects team to do a little something about his thinning hair. According to Newsweek, Costner demanded the special effects department add “computer-generated hair” to mask his balding noggin.
Costner vehemently denied this report to CNN in 1995: "I was so surprised that it came from Newsweek. No matter if they cite a source, it's just bullsh*t, and they're bullsh*t for printing it."
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The Set Was Absolutely Insane
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According to director Kevin Reynolds, the Waterworld set was already nuts when he arrived in Hawaii to start filming. He attempted to describe the madness to Newsweek for the film’s 20th anniversary:
"The set wasn’t a three-ring circus, it was a 12-ring circus. The scale was enormous. Especially the giant floating set, the atoll. We had hundreds of extras, dozens and dozens of guys on jet skis and helicopters with cameras on them."
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One Of The Stunt Men Was Nearly Lost At Sea
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When you’re filming an action movie some accidents are to expected. Normally, though, you're filming in a much more controlled environment than the actual ocean. The film’s director, Kevin Reynolds, described the most frightening moment on set:
"The AD came in and told me one of the stunt guys was missing at sea. I said, 'What do you mean? We aren’t even shooting at sea!' We were shooting on the Big Island and this guy was Bill Hamilton – this legendary big wave surfer. He had been taking a jet ski across this channel from the Big Island to Maui, where his home was, and he'd stay for the weekend. He’d get up before dawn on Monday and drive it back 40 miles across the ocean, and he hadn’t shown up that morning for work. They called his wife and she said he left for work. We sent the production helicopter out to try and find him and they couldn’t find him, we thought he was lost at sea. Toward the end of the day they finally found him floating way out in the channel about to be swept out to sea."
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The Director Quit In The Middle Of Post-Production
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Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds had been working together since the '80s, when Reynolds gave Costner a role in the film Fandango. They later collaborated on Dances With Wolves (Costner directed, but received tips from Reynolds), and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But their relationship apparently began to sour as Costner’s star rose, and their friendship almost ended during the filming of Waterworld.
Reynolds was already cracking under the stress of filming the bloated movie, but the straw that broke the director’s back was his creative clash with Costner. After leaving the production, Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly, "In the future Costner should only appear in pictures he directs himself. That way he can always be working with his favorite actor and his favorite director."
Costner responded, “At the end of the day, you've got to get the work done, and that's what I'm about."
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People Kept Getting Hurt
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The nearly year-long shooting period of Waterworld took its toll on the cast and crew. The worst injury occurred when Kevin Costner’s stunt double, Norman Howell, suffered a near-fatal embolism while filming a deep-sea dive. Howell had to be flown to a hospital on Honolulu, where he recovered in a decompression chamber.
Costner himself had a brush with death. He described how he spent two hours stuck on a boat mast in order to get a helicopter shot:
"'I’ve read about The Twilight Zone and every f*cking thing else,' he says of the notorious 1982 accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children. The mere recollection of the shot turns him cranky. 'The helicopter was about 20 feet away from me.'
'Back the f*ck up!' Costner yelled. Drowned out by the roar of the helicopter, he frantically waved the pilot away. They got the shot, but as the boat turned around, a fierce gale blew up. 'I don’t know what the reason was, but we had purposefully gone out to one of the windiest channels in the world,' says Costner, who was stranded, white-knuckled and lashed to the mast, for half an hour... 'He was not happy,' says the producer, who was safe on shore."
Plus, jellyfish stung everyone.
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It Was Absurdly Expensive
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Waterworld began its life as a $5 million Mad Max rip off that gained momentum and interest. Eventually, it landed a pretty standard budget of $30 million. For comparison, Point Break also cost $30 million, and Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds’s previous film together, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, cost $48 million.
But after setting up shop in Hawaii, the film’s budget quickly ballooned to $65 million. Then the shoot stretched on and on, and the costs of post-production rose. The film ended up costing an unheard of $175 million. When all was said and done, though, Waterworld ended up in the black, and it would actually be a minor success today.
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So Many Sets Sank
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One of the reasons so few films take place on the open water is because it’s so hard to get a stable shot on a surface that’s constantly changing. Waterworld ran headfirst into this issue when the camera crews found themselves taking hours to set up relatively simple shots.
On top of the camera set ups, many of the sets that were constructed on the water sank into the ocean. Some could be salvaged, but that heaped another cost on the already expensive production.
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The Crew Turnover Was Incredibly High
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People come and go on many features. But Waterworld seemed particularly cursed when it came to crew turnover. According to a Los Angeles Times article released during the movie's filming, "Several members of the nearly 500-person crew have either been fired or walked off the picture, including assistant director Alan Curtiss, who reportedly left over creative differences."
This is not good. An assistant director is in charge of making sure the day’s production runs smoothly, and they’re the gatekeeper to the director. When an AD leaves a production, it’s usually because they’re abandoning a sinking ship.
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Local Contractors Took Advantage Of The Production
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When a production films outside of typical spots like Los Angeles or New York, the crew has to deal with local contractors to take care of everything from craft services to construction. In a small community like Hawaii, there's always the chance the few contractors around will raise their prices ridiculously high.
According to Ginger Peterson, Waterworld's location manager, “Companies knew they were the only games in town and took advantage.” She was a Hawaii resident, but apparently she left quickly after the shoot ended. Says one local, "she would have been lynched if she’d stayed." Yikes.
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The Film Ended Up Shooting For Almost 200 Days
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Waterworld was initially slated to shoot for 96 days. But, of course, that didn't end up being the case. Kevin Costner, who starred in the film and acted as a backseat director, was on set for 157 days, working six days a week. His co-star Jeanne Tripplehorn described the madness of the extended shooting schedule:
"I just remember sitting next to Dennis Hopper at one point, and I was complaining that we had been there for three months and it was the longest I had ever been on a shoot. And Dennis looked at me said, ‘Oh no. You want this movie to go on for as long as possible.’ Of course, we were there for another three months."
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Kevin Costner May Have Had An Affair On Set
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In the middle of the shoot, Costner ended his marriage to his wife of 16 years, and rumors immediately started flying. According to People, he allegedly spent much of his time off hooking up with a married "Hawaiian hula dancer" who performed at a local hotel. Her husband denied that an affair took place, but the story gained steam regardless.
Costner reportedly made his way around the set while his breakup was happening and banned all tabloids from his direct view.
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Kevin Costner’s Character Initially Had A Secret Horse
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Peter Rader's initial script for Waterworld was pretty wild. He wanted to add in surreal elements, so he decided to give the film’s main character, the Mariner (initially referred to as “Noah”), a white horse that he would keep on his boat but never show anyone.
When the script changed hands and writer David Twohy took over, the unseen white horse was thrown overboard. Imagine the aquatic horseback fight scenes that might have been.
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There’s An Entirely Different Cut Of The Film
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Before leaving in the middle of post-production, the film’s director, Kevin Reynolds, actually managed to cut together version of the film that has never come out of the vault. Those who have seen it say that it’s a more “conventional” action film that dispenses with the somber tone of Kevin Costner’s cut.
While the film’s star may think Reynolds jumped ship at an inopportune time, Dennis Hopper – who plays the film’s antagonist – felt like Reynolds did the right thing. In 1995 he told SF Gate, "When a movie costs this much, the studio and the producers come in and get involved. He turned over his director's cut and said, 'I quit. Fight it out amongst yourselves. Here's the movie.' I find that right."
