And even in this era of nostalgia-induced sequels, visiting an underperforming film 25 years after its release for more content sounds like a recipe for another disaster. SyFy briefly considered producing a ‘Waterworld’ miniseries, but that never came to fruition. Although ‘Waterworld eventually became profitable due to the DVD/Blu-Ray sales, it’s not nearly enough to merit a sequel. It ended up winning one for Reynolds’ direction. The film was subsequently designated as one of the biggest flops of all time and received four Razzie nominations that season. Following its premiere, the film managed to earn $264.2 million, which is not much if the promotional cost and money that the theaters kept are taken into account. In Hollywood’s history, no film ever had this big of a budget. However, the film went drastically over budget and cost about $175 million to complete. Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film, at first allocated $100 million for the production. 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. Reynolds did the same thing for the same reasons on ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.’ This eventually led to Reynolds leaving the project shortly before its release. Reynolds and Costner often argued over creative differences. But the production was fraught with issues from the beginning. All parties involved genuinely believed that their fourth collaboration would be a grand success due to its massive scope, ambitious storyline, and of course, the inclusion of Costner as the main star.Īt the time, Costner was one of the highest-paid actors in the industry. Later, Twohy also mentioned that he was majorly influenced by ‘Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.’īefore ‘Waterworld,’ Costner and Reynolds made three other movies together: ‘Fandango’ (1985), ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991), and ‘Rapa Nui’ (1994). According to Rader, he drew inspirations from ‘Mad Max’ and Biblical and ancient Greek writings while penning the script. The film is based on a script by Peter Rader and David Twohy. ‘Waterworld’ was released on July 28, 1995, in theaters. 1995 136 min PG-13 Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, SpanishFeature Film SD. If you are wondering about the possibility of ‘Waterworld’ 2, this is what you need to know. It made some money in DVD/Blu-Ray sales and continues to find its way back into the public discourse whenever it becomes available on a streaming platform. However, since then, ‘Waterworld’ has gained a large fanbase that passionately defends the film. When it is revealed that a young girl named Enola (Tina Majorino) has the map to the only dry land in the world tattooed on her back, it falls on the Mariner to lead her there while keeping her safe from a notorious group of pirates and their ruthless leader, the Deacon (Dennis Hopper).Īfter the film was released, it garnered mixed reviews and did not perform as well as it could have at the box office.
But yes, we think it already has a home,” added Fox, suggesting Peacock might be “Waterworld : The TV Show”‘s future home.The protagonist, known simply as the Mariner ( Kevin Costner), is one such person. “For now, it’s at Universal Television, and we are putting it together. “And with John, we are all re-imagining it for the streaming version.” “Larry Gordon and myself, we’re the producers on that movie”, David tells Collider.
The sequel series looks to already have a home, too. Now, producer John Davis (“Predator”) and producing partner John Fox have inked a deal to bring “Waterworld 2” to the small screen. So clearly, the pricey adventure movie paid off over time. Universal even has a successful “Waterworld” themepark attraction at Universal Studios… The film, best described as “Mad Max on Water”, ended up costing Universal $175m after all was said and done, but did make a pretty penny on VHS and DVD in the years that followed its initial 1994 release. For a film regarded as a bonza-size turd upon its release, Kevin Reynolds Kevin Costner’s “Waterworld” sure does seem to have had the last laugh.