Set in a dystopian tomorrow Kevin Reynolds helmed Waterworld (1995) washed ashore in theaters nearly 30 years ago, as one of the most infamous summer sci-fi films, starring Kevin Costner. Despite the iconic amalgamation of Aquatic Western with a science-fiction twist, the movie became famous for its outrageous budget and behind-the-scenes creative battles.
Kevin Costner in Kevin Reynolds’ movie Waterworld. (Photo: Ben Glass/Universal Pictures/Courtesy: Everett Collection)
Years later looking back at Kevin Reynolds’ Waterworld, it seems a lot of those issues could have been avoided with quick thinking and foresight. Or maybe, Kevin Costner could have simply listened to Steven Spielberg’s advice, especially after he reached out to the director for suggestions, ahead of shooting.
Kevin Costner Sought Steven Spielberg’s Advice Ahead of Waterworld
Playing the role of a mysterious wanderer in a post-apocalyptic world, Kevin Costner catered to the character of Mariner in Kevin Reynolds’ renowned 1995 action sci-fi Waterworld.
Kevin Costner in Kevin Reynolds’ movie Waterworld. (Photo: Ben Glass/Universal Pictures/Courtesy: Everett Collection)
Years later looking back at Kevin Reynolds’ Waterworld, it seems a lot of those issues could have been avoided with quick thinking and foresight. Or maybe, Kevin Costner could have simply listened to Steven Spielberg’s advice, especially after he reached out to the director for suggestions, ahead of shooting.
Kevin Costner Sought Steven Spielberg’s Advice Ahead of Waterworld
Playing the role of a mysterious wanderer in a post-apocalyptic world, Kevin Costner catered to the character of Mariner in Kevin Reynolds’ renowned 1995 action sci-fi Waterworld.
- 5/2/2024
- by Krittika Mukherjee
- FandomWire
We often see reboots of beloved movies, including Batman, James Bond, and a number of Disney releases in Tinseltown. It attempted the same thing with Robin Hood. Aiming to reinvent the traditional English hero for a contemporary audience, Kevin Reynolds’ tried his hand at doing so in 1991, starring Alan Rickman.
Even though Robin Hood has been adapted for the big screen numerous times, Reynolds’ adaptation is still a commendable and highly entertaining one. At its core, the classic flick is an action-packed adventure with memorable characters and an inspirational story, underneath the drama that occurs behind the scenes.
Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Yes, things were very different behind the scenes. Rickman graciously defended his co-star Kevin Costner from baseless claims that the late actor’s performance outshined the Yellowstone star.
The Remarkable Act of Alan Rickman Standing Up for Kevin Costner
Egos are frequently brittle and...
Even though Robin Hood has been adapted for the big screen numerous times, Reynolds’ adaptation is still a commendable and highly entertaining one. At its core, the classic flick is an action-packed adventure with memorable characters and an inspirational story, underneath the drama that occurs behind the scenes.
Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Yes, things were very different behind the scenes. Rickman graciously defended his co-star Kevin Costner from baseless claims that the late actor’s performance outshined the Yellowstone star.
The Remarkable Act of Alan Rickman Standing Up for Kevin Costner
Egos are frequently brittle and...
- 4/10/2024
- by Siddhika Prajapati
- FandomWire
Kevin Costner is one of the most talented actor-directors in the whole film industry. Having starred and directed one of the most famous Western movies of all time, Dances with Wolves, the Yellowstone star was at the top of his career in the late ’80s and ’90s.
Kevin Costner in a still from Waterworld
However, the actor hit a new low, both professionally and personally, while shooting the movie Waterworld. Not only did he end up clashing several times with the movie’s director and his long-time collaborator Kevin Reynolds, but he was also going through a brutal $80 million divorce.
When Kevin Costner Clashed with Kevin Reynolds
A still from Waterworld
Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds have had a long history of collaboration. The duo has famously collaborated on movies like The Untouchables, Dances with Wolves, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. However, it was their fourth collaboration that things...
Kevin Costner in a still from Waterworld
However, the actor hit a new low, both professionally and personally, while shooting the movie Waterworld. Not only did he end up clashing several times with the movie’s director and his long-time collaborator Kevin Reynolds, but he was also going through a brutal $80 million divorce.
When Kevin Costner Clashed with Kevin Reynolds
A still from Waterworld
Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds have had a long history of collaboration. The duo has famously collaborated on movies like The Untouchables, Dances with Wolves, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. However, it was their fourth collaboration that things...
- 4/5/2024
- by Maria Sultan
- FandomWire
The Israeli-Gaza morass this week seemed to defy coherent media coverage, reminding me of critic David Thomson’s conclusion about Hollywood war movies and how they “used to celebrate courage, not confusion.”
Thomson’s new book, The Fatal Alliance, deals with the history of the war movie from Gallipoli to Saving Private Ryan, guiding readers from “war is hell” to “war is a blur.”
The war movie once constituted a reliable genre product for Hollywood, along with the Western and the musical. To be sure, Israel-Gaza is a tragedy of enormous and dramatic proportions, as symbolized by its chaotic cross-cutting from drones to tunnels.
From Paths of Glory to Dunkirk, war movies once set forth a structure and pathos to guide audiences through the nihilism of combat.
Thomson reminds us of the pageantry of the knights on horseback in Olivier’s Henry V, the churning helicopters in Apocalypse Now or...
Thomson’s new book, The Fatal Alliance, deals with the history of the war movie from Gallipoli to Saving Private Ryan, guiding readers from “war is hell” to “war is a blur.”
The war movie once constituted a reliable genre product for Hollywood, along with the Western and the musical. To be sure, Israel-Gaza is a tragedy of enormous and dramatic proportions, as symbolized by its chaotic cross-cutting from drones to tunnels.
From Paths of Glory to Dunkirk, war movies once set forth a structure and pathos to guide audiences through the nihilism of combat.
Thomson reminds us of the pageantry of the knights on horseback in Olivier’s Henry V, the churning helicopters in Apocalypse Now or...
- 11/2/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“Audiences like to see the chararcters move through the real locations. You can’t replicate that on a stage.”
The rise of virtual production and the use of techniques such as LED volume walls may be useful, but there is always be a need for physical locations, said leading international location professionals at the inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta this week.
“The physical location will always trump a studio location in that the audience would like to see the characters move through the location. You can’t replicate that 100% of the time on stage,” said Michael Glaser, a US-based...
The rise of virtual production and the use of techniques such as LED volume walls may be useful, but there is always be a need for physical locations, said leading international location professionals at the inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta this week.
“The physical location will always trump a studio location in that the audience would like to see the characters move through the location. You can’t replicate that 100% of the time on stage,” said Michael Glaser, a US-based...
- 6/28/2023
- by Gabriella Geisinger
- ScreenDaily
Throughout his career, Academy Award winner Kevin Costner has been a part of many successful movies. He has also starred in some real duds! One of those failures that Costner was famously a part of was the 1995 action film, Waterworld. Considered a box office bomb at the time of the release in the USA, the film became profitable after it was released internationally and on home video. The making of the film was possibly a movie within itself, marred with behind the scenes disagreements, so much so that the director, Kevin Reynolds, left the film and Costner took over directing and other creative decisions. The film has now found a cult following which may be gratifying to the stars and filmmakers now, but at the time of the release Costner told us before the movie was released, that the film took a toll on him professionally and personally. (Click on...
- 6/7/2023
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
The Film
For every movie fan there are probably several films they can count as milestones, movies that became big parts of our viewing, even of our lives. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves was one of those for me. It came out at the perfect time, when I was 10. The screenplay had simple heroism, the villain was an obvious baddie you could boo and hiss at if the mood took you, there was plenty of action and even as a cut PG, it stretched the edges of its certification to a point that was an intense and sometimes scary experience for a relatively young kid. I loved it. Along with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves became one of my first favourite movies. It was one of the reasons we first got a TV for the house, and a Vcr to go with it, and...
For every movie fan there are probably several films they can count as milestones, movies that became big parts of our viewing, even of our lives. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves was one of those for me. It came out at the perfect time, when I was 10. The screenplay had simple heroism, the villain was an obvious baddie you could boo and hiss at if the mood took you, there was plenty of action and even as a cut PG, it stretched the edges of its certification to a point that was an intense and sometimes scary experience for a relatively young kid. I loved it. Along with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves became one of my first favourite movies. It was one of the reasons we first got a TV for the house, and a Vcr to go with it, and...
- 11/30/2022
- by Sam Inglis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Whether you are religious or not, there is no denying that Jesus Christ is one of the most influential and important figures in human history. His life and teachings have inspired billions of people worldwide, and have been the subject of many movies over the years. The crucifixion is undeniably the most significant event in the short but meaningful life of Jesus.
In this blog post, we will take a look at 10 of the best movies about Jesus Christ. We’ve ranked these Biblical epics based on an aggregate of viewers’ ratings.
10/10
Risen (2016)
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth
IMDb User Rating 6.3/10 29K Rt Audience Score 70 10K Meta User Score 6.9 Votes 85
“Risen” is a 2016 historical drama about the aftermath of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. With a budget of 20 million, “Risen” is a 2016 American epic biblical drama film directed by Kevin Reynolds.
The story follows Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a high-ranking Roman soldier,...
In this blog post, we will take a look at 10 of the best movies about Jesus Christ. We’ve ranked these Biblical epics based on an aggregate of viewers’ ratings.
10/10
Risen (2016)
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth
IMDb User Rating 6.3/10 29K Rt Audience Score 70 10K Meta User Score 6.9 Votes 85
“Risen” is a 2016 historical drama about the aftermath of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. With a budget of 20 million, “Risen” is a 2016 American epic biblical drama film directed by Kevin Reynolds.
The story follows Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a high-ranking Roman soldier,...
- 10/28/2022
- by Buddy TV
- buddytv.com
Kevin Reynolds' 1995 film "Waterworld" was, at the time of its release, the most expensive movie ever made. Thanks to a slew of production problems (not least of which was a floating set that persistently sank) the movie's budget ballooned, ultimately costing Universal Pictures about 172 million. Adjusted for inflation, that's about 306 million. It would be only two years later that James Cameron's "Titanic" would be released, surpassing "Waterworld" in terms of budget; "Titanic" cost, when adjusted, about 338 million. Since then, only five films have cost more than "Titanic." Three of them have the word "Avengers" in the title. The other two have the word "Pirates."
The production problems on "Waterworld" were well-publicized, and attentive readers of the Los Angeles Times were following the expansion of the film's cost from an already expensive 100 million to 135 million and beyond. Words like "chaos" and "difficult" and "out of control" began leaking from the set.
The production problems on "Waterworld" were well-publicized, and attentive readers of the Los Angeles Times were following the expansion of the film's cost from an already expensive 100 million to 135 million and beyond. Words like "chaos" and "difficult" and "out of control" began leaking from the set.
- 9/18/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Director Kevin Reynolds’ graphic, gritty desert combat movie is about a lost tank in the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Besides being 98 an unpleasant downer, it now reminds us that we got into the exact same fix just a decade after the Russkis threw in the towel. Cruel Russki soldiers commit atrocities against vengeful Moujahedin resistance, and there’s really nobody to root for. George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer and Stephen Baldwin endure a rough ordeal out in the dirt, hoping for the next war movie breakthrough hit.
The Beast
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #143
1988 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date July 27, 2022 / The Beast of War / Available from Imprint / 39.95
Starring: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin, Don Harvey, Kabir Bedi, Erick Avari, Haim Gerafi, Shosh Marciano.
Cinematography: Douglas Milsome
Production Designer: Kuli Sander
Art Director: Richard James
Film Editor: Peter Boyle
Original Music: Mark Isham
Written...
The Beast
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #143
1988 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date July 27, 2022 / The Beast of War / Available from Imprint / 39.95
Starring: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin, Don Harvey, Kabir Bedi, Erick Avari, Haim Gerafi, Shosh Marciano.
Cinematography: Douglas Milsome
Production Designer: Kuli Sander
Art Director: Richard James
Film Editor: Peter Boyle
Original Music: Mark Isham
Written...
- 8/16/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“There’s nothing wrong with going nowhere, son. It’s a privilege of youth.”
Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson in Fandango (1985) will be available on Blu-ray April 12th from Warner Archive. Order it in advance at The Warner Archive Store Here
Fandango: (fan-dang-go) 1. A lively Spanish dance. 2. The music for this. 3. A foolish act.
Academy Award winner Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson star in this story about five young men about to graduate from college in the summer of 1971, who take one last, wild trip across West Texas before facing their lives as adults–which will include marriage, careers, and service in the war in Vietnam–in this heartfelt and adventurous coming-of-age story. Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld) made his feature film directorial debut with this fan favorite.
Special Features:
New 2022 1080p HD Master!BD50Aspect Ratio:16×9 1.85:1 WIDESCREENCOLORAudio Specs DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1 Surround91 Minutes.Includes Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The post Kevin...
Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson in Fandango (1985) will be available on Blu-ray April 12th from Warner Archive. Order it in advance at The Warner Archive Store Here
Fandango: (fan-dang-go) 1. A lively Spanish dance. 2. The music for this. 3. A foolish act.
Academy Award winner Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson star in this story about five young men about to graduate from college in the summer of 1971, who take one last, wild trip across West Texas before facing their lives as adults–which will include marriage, careers, and service in the war in Vietnam–in this heartfelt and adventurous coming-of-age story. Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld) made his feature film directorial debut with this fan favorite.
Special Features:
New 2022 1080p HD Master!BD50Aspect Ratio:16×9 1.85:1 WIDESCREENCOLORAudio Specs DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1 Surround91 Minutes.Includes Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The post Kevin...
- 3/31/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A follow-up to Universal’s 1995 movie Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner, is in the works for the small screen. The project, which hails from original producer John Davis and his Davis Entertainment is in very early development at UCP, sources tell Deadline. Davis tells Collider, which first reported the project, that Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) is attached to direct.
The series would pick up with the film’s characters 20 years later. No platform is attached, but sources close to the project say it could potentially be set at UCP sister streamer Peacock. Talks are currently underway with potential writers.
UCP would not comment.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by climate change, the film revolves around a world that is covered in water. The polar ice cap has completely melted and the sea level has risen over 25,000 feet, covering nearly every inch of land. Costner stars as the Mariner, a drifter...
The series would pick up with the film’s characters 20 years later. No platform is attached, but sources close to the project say it could potentially be set at UCP sister streamer Peacock. Talks are currently underway with potential writers.
UCP would not comment.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by climate change, the film revolves around a world that is covered in water. The polar ice cap has completely melted and the sea level has risen over 25,000 feet, covering nearly every inch of land. Costner stars as the Mariner, a drifter...
- 7/29/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
There is a curious sense of ownership from forty-somethings over the cast of shows that were big when they were kids. Here in the UK the late ’80s and early ’90s were awash with the antipodean soap suds of Neighbours and Home and Away. After school we cornered the TV and watched on in eager anticipation as our onscreen heroes grew up with us. As our heroes left the soaps, many scored a well worn groove by leaping to Top of the Pops stardom along with the occasional phone in on the Saturday morning shows. For Guy Pearce however, the end of his three year stint on Neighbours pointed to a very different fate for the actor.
In all Pearce appeared in just four shy of 500 episodes, and like many headlining soap stars of the day there was little doubt he’d crop up again somewhere in the future. Thankfully...
In all Pearce appeared in just four shy of 500 episodes, and like many headlining soap stars of the day there was little doubt he’d crop up again somewhere in the future. Thankfully...
- 3/1/2021
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
On July 28, 1995, Universal unveiled its producer-star Kevin Costner's expansive epic Waterworld in theaters. The pricey film stumbled domestically but nevertheless made $264 million globally during its theatrical run. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
The costliest Hollywood film in contemporary annals, with production difficulties and the fallout between star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds covered at length by the media, Waterworld is an uneven, uninvolving post-apocalypse epic spruced up with chaotic battle sequences and aquatic feats of heroism.
The initial wave of interest based on the publicity and headliner Costner should make for a big ...
The costliest Hollywood film in contemporary annals, with production difficulties and the fallout between star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds covered at length by the media, Waterworld is an uneven, uninvolving post-apocalypse epic spruced up with chaotic battle sequences and aquatic feats of heroism.
The initial wave of interest based on the publicity and headliner Costner should make for a big ...
- 7/28/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On July 28, 1995, Universal unveiled its producer-star Kevin Costner's expansive epic Waterworld in theaters. The pricey film stumbled domestically but nevertheless made $264 million globally during its theatrical run. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
The costliest Hollywood film in contemporary annals, with production difficulties and the fallout between star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds covered at length by the media, Waterworld is an uneven, uninvolving post-apocalypse epic spruced up with chaotic battle sequences and aquatic feats of heroism.
The initial wave of interest based on the publicity and headliner Costner should make for a big ...
The costliest Hollywood film in contemporary annals, with production difficulties and the fallout between star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds covered at length by the media, Waterworld is an uneven, uninvolving post-apocalypse epic spruced up with chaotic battle sequences and aquatic feats of heroism.
The initial wave of interest based on the publicity and headliner Costner should make for a big ...
- 7/28/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Starring Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Dennis Hopper Directed by Kevin Reynolds Distributed by Arrow Video When a film has been labeled a “bomb” before ever opening in theaters it is pretty much a foregone conclusion the box office performance is going to follow suit. That’s the situation Kevin Costner’s post-apocalyptic seafarer Waterworld (1995) […] The post Waterworld Blu-ray Review – Now With More Water! appeared first on Dread Central.
- 4/4/2019
- by Anthony Arrigo
- DreadCentral.com
(L-r) Josh Mauga, Cliff Curtis, Dwayne Johnson, Roman Reigns and John Tui in the new Fast & Furious
Actor Cliff Curtis modestly acknowledges he is not a brand or a marquee name, despite a vast body of work which includes Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider, The Dark Horse, Blow, Three Kings, The Insider, Sunshine, Training Day, Collateral Damage and Crossing Over.
That could soon change as Curtis plays a key role in the latest iteration of Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise, followed by a recurring character in all four of James Cameron’s Avatar epics.
In Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw he plays the brother of Dwayne Johnson’s character, diplomatic security agent Luke Hobbs, who teams up with mercenary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) to stop a new threat — “super-human” terrorist Brixton (Idris Elba). Directed by David Leitch, the action adventure is due to open in August.
The actor...
Actor Cliff Curtis modestly acknowledges he is not a brand or a marquee name, despite a vast body of work which includes Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider, The Dark Horse, Blow, Three Kings, The Insider, Sunshine, Training Day, Collateral Damage and Crossing Over.
That could soon change as Curtis plays a key role in the latest iteration of Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise, followed by a recurring character in all four of James Cameron’s Avatar epics.
In Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw he plays the brother of Dwayne Johnson’s character, diplomatic security agent Luke Hobbs, who teams up with mercenary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) to stop a new threat — “super-human” terrorist Brixton (Idris Elba). Directed by David Leitch, the action adventure is due to open in August.
The actor...
- 2/27/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
The 1995 feature Waterworld was maligned by critics and journalists even before it came out. Whether it was reports of a creative rift with director Kevin Reynolds (Costner eventually took over the reigns) or its escalating budget, the movie was doomed from the start.
Costner has always been a frank and insightful interviewee, and credit goes [...]
The post Kevin Costner Discusses The “Difficult” Journey Of Shooting ‘Waterworld’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
Costner has always been a frank and insightful interviewee, and credit goes [...]
The post Kevin Costner Discusses The “Difficult” Journey Of Shooting ‘Waterworld’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
- 12/4/2018
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
For the 12th time in recorded Thanksgiving box office history (since 1982), Disney will own the holiday stretch again as their sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet looks to hit a five-day of $70M, a number far exceeding the previous five-day of 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph even though it launched on a three-day weekend during the first weekend of November clearly a Fss of $49M, Friday through Tuesday of $56.7M. Disney sees Ralph Breaks the Internet in the high $60Ms range.
Fandango reports that Ralph Breaks the Internet is outpacing the advance ticket sales of Disney’s previous two Thanksgiving launches at this point in time, Coco ($72.9M)and Moana ($82M), and of course Wreck-It Ralph. For Disney, as usual, the weekend is a slam dunk. The first Wreck-It Ralph was Oscar-nominated for best animated film and grossed $189.4M stateside, $471.2M Ww.
Among 5-day Thanksgiving wide openings in U.S./Canada, Ralph Breaks...
Fandango reports that Ralph Breaks the Internet is outpacing the advance ticket sales of Disney’s previous two Thanksgiving launches at this point in time, Coco ($72.9M)and Moana ($82M), and of course Wreck-It Ralph. For Disney, as usual, the weekend is a slam dunk. The first Wreck-It Ralph was Oscar-nominated for best animated film and grossed $189.4M stateside, $471.2M Ww.
Among 5-day Thanksgiving wide openings in U.S./Canada, Ralph Breaks...
- 11/20/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Four films will battle this Thanksgiving, but two will rule a majority of the 5-day stretch’s ticket sales with Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet hitting tracking today with a $65M Wednesday through Sunday haul while MGM’s Creed II will punch $48M over the same time period.
Then there’s Lionsgate’s action-packed version of Robin Hood from producer Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to do $17M, while Universal’s Green Book between its Wednesday through Sunday play is in the high single digits.
Again, these are early projections, as the movies hit tracking today, so some may swell in the weeks to come, and some may not.
Ralph 2 is currently tracking the best with younger females, but it’s strong across the board we hear. The first Wreck-It-Ralph opening six years ago during the first weekend in November and made $49M in 3-days, $56.7M in five and ended its run at $189.4M domestic,...
Then there’s Lionsgate’s action-packed version of Robin Hood from producer Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to do $17M, while Universal’s Green Book between its Wednesday through Sunday play is in the high single digits.
Again, these are early projections, as the movies hit tracking today, so some may swell in the weeks to come, and some may not.
Ralph 2 is currently tracking the best with younger females, but it’s strong across the board we hear. The first Wreck-It-Ralph opening six years ago during the first weekend in November and made $49M in 3-days, $56.7M in five and ended its run at $189.4M domestic,...
- 11/1/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Poldark producer Mammoth Screen is heading to the 19th Century to adapt Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo.
The ITV-owned indie is working with Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield on the remake after it emerged that Aidan Turner’s scythe-wielding drama is set to come to an end following its next season.
The story, written by The Three Musketeers author Dumas, is set between 1815 and 1839 in France and Italy. It follows the Bourbon Restoration through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France ahead of the Hundred Days period, when Napoleon returned to power. It is an adventure story following a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune, and sets about exacting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment.
Mammoth Screen boss Damien Timmer told Deadline that The Count of Monte Cristo was “arguably one of the most iconic and thrilling stories ever written” and that it...
The ITV-owned indie is working with Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield on the remake after it emerged that Aidan Turner’s scythe-wielding drama is set to come to an end following its next season.
The story, written by The Three Musketeers author Dumas, is set between 1815 and 1839 in France and Italy. It follows the Bourbon Restoration through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France ahead of the Hundred Days period, when Napoleon returned to power. It is an adventure story following a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune, and sets about exacting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment.
Mammoth Screen boss Damien Timmer told Deadline that The Count of Monte Cristo was “arguably one of the most iconic and thrilling stories ever written” and that it...
- 7/31/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Ryan Lambie Jul 24, 2017
It was a legendarily expensive action vehicle for Kevin Costner in 1995, but Waterworld originally began life as a subtly different story...
Tales of Waterworld's making have long since passed into legend. You've probably read about the long and difficult shoot on the open seas around Hawaii, about the soaring costs, the sinking sets and the increasingly fractious relationship between the two Kevins - director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner. You've probably heard about a pre-Buffy Joss Whedon being flown in to revise the script, and how, getting wind of all this, the Hollywood press started calling Waterworld names like "Fishtar and "Kevin's Gate".
See related Vikings renewed for season 5
What's less commonly discussed is just where Waterworld came from. It's often reported that the screenplay was written by Peter Rader and later reworked by David Twohy; what's less widely known is that Waterworld could...
It was a legendarily expensive action vehicle for Kevin Costner in 1995, but Waterworld originally began life as a subtly different story...
Tales of Waterworld's making have long since passed into legend. You've probably read about the long and difficult shoot on the open seas around Hawaii, about the soaring costs, the sinking sets and the increasingly fractious relationship between the two Kevins - director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner. You've probably heard about a pre-Buffy Joss Whedon being flown in to revise the script, and how, getting wind of all this, the Hollywood press started calling Waterworld names like "Fishtar and "Kevin's Gate".
See related Vikings renewed for season 5
What's less commonly discussed is just where Waterworld came from. It's often reported that the screenplay was written by Peter Rader and later reworked by David Twohy; what's less widely known is that Waterworld could...
- 6/30/2017
- Den of Geek
We take a look at new Blu-rays of two ’80s classics.
Shout! Factory’s relatively young collectors label, Shout Select, is something of an odd duck. This is less of a criticism than an observation as their releases so far bear no real discernible through line. We’ve gotten well-deserved Blu-rays of eagerly awaited ’80s classics like To Live and Die in La, Road House, and Midnight Run, but the label has also released/announced titles like Death of a Salesman, The Chinese Connection, and Simon Pegg’s forgettable 2012 film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything. So yeah, there’s something of an odd inconsistency across the catalog.
For now though we’re here to discuss their latest releases, two ’80s films of varying acclaim and renown — John Milius’ Red Dawn and Dennis Hopper’s Colors.
Red Dawn (1984)
A small town in Colorado begins its day like any other until strangers drop from the sky. Soviet...
Shout! Factory’s relatively young collectors label, Shout Select, is something of an odd duck. This is less of a criticism than an observation as their releases so far bear no real discernible through line. We’ve gotten well-deserved Blu-rays of eagerly awaited ’80s classics like To Live and Die in La, Road House, and Midnight Run, but the label has also released/announced titles like Death of a Salesman, The Chinese Connection, and Simon Pegg’s forgettable 2012 film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything. So yeah, there’s something of an odd inconsistency across the catalog.
For now though we’re here to discuss their latest releases, two ’80s films of varying acclaim and renown — John Milius’ Red Dawn and Dennis Hopper’s Colors.
Red Dawn (1984)
A small town in Colorado begins its day like any other until strangers drop from the sky. Soviet...
- 3/17/2017
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Simon Brew Jan 4, 2017
Andrew Garfield on the rumour that a dispute with Sony bosses led to him being removed as Spider-Man, following The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
More and more little details continue to drip out surrounding Andrew Garfield’s departure from the role of Spider-Man. In spite of the fact that Sony had announced release dates for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4, it went on to pull the plug on the series after the second movie failed to fully ignite the box office. Garfield was duly dropped as the incumbent webslinger, and with Marvel coming on board too, Tom Holland was duly cast in the role. Holland, of course, debuted his Spider-Man in last year’s Captain America: Civil War.
See related Revisiting Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves at 25 Kevin Reynolds: The Den Of Geek interview
There had been rumours from 2015 that suggested Garfield had in fact...
Andrew Garfield on the rumour that a dispute with Sony bosses led to him being removed as Spider-Man, following The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
More and more little details continue to drip out surrounding Andrew Garfield’s departure from the role of Spider-Man. In spite of the fact that Sony had announced release dates for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4, it went on to pull the plug on the series after the second movie failed to fully ignite the box office. Garfield was duly dropped as the incumbent webslinger, and with Marvel coming on board too, Tom Holland was duly cast in the role. Holland, of course, debuted his Spider-Man in last year’s Captain America: Civil War.
See related Revisiting Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves at 25 Kevin Reynolds: The Den Of Geek interview
There had been rumours from 2015 that suggested Garfield had in fact...
- 1/4/2017
- Den of Geek
Tony Sokol Jan 4, 2017
Michael Keaton was all set to play Batman/Bruce Wayne for a third time in Batman Forever. And he's been chatting about why he dropped out...
Michael Keaton, who burst onto the movie scene with manic characters like Beeteljuice and Johnny Dangerously, remains perhaps most famed for his stint as the Dark Knight. He played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. The DC Comics movies were blockbuster hits, and the reimagined series was well on its way to being a winning franchise. But Keaton turned down the chance to be in the third movie of the series, Batman Forever. And he's been chatting about why. It wasn't anything to do with the suit, rather that "it sucked," Keaton told The Hollywood Reporter.
See related Revisiting Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves at 25 Kevin Reynolds: The Den Of Geek interview
“The script never was good.
Michael Keaton was all set to play Batman/Bruce Wayne for a third time in Batman Forever. And he's been chatting about why he dropped out...
Michael Keaton, who burst onto the movie scene with manic characters like Beeteljuice and Johnny Dangerously, remains perhaps most famed for his stint as the Dark Knight. He played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. The DC Comics movies were blockbuster hits, and the reimagined series was well on its way to being a winning franchise. But Keaton turned down the chance to be in the third movie of the series, Batman Forever. And he's been chatting about why. It wasn't anything to do with the suit, rather that "it sucked," Keaton told The Hollywood Reporter.
See related Revisiting Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves at 25 Kevin Reynolds: The Den Of Geek interview
“The script never was good.
- 1/3/2017
- Den of Geek
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Warner Bros has struggled with its blockbusters of late. But back in summer 1997 - Batman & Robin's year - it faced not dissimilar problems.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Warner Bros, following a string of costly movies that hadn’t hit box office gold (Pan, Jupiter Ascending, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., In The Heart Of The Sea), was restructuring its blockbuster movie business. Fewer films, fewer risks, more franchises, and more centering around movie universes seems to be the new approach, and the appointment of a new corporate team to oversee the Harry Potter franchise last week was one part of that.
In some ways, it marks the end of an era. Whilst it retains its relationships with key directing talent (Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood, Christopher Nolan for instance), Warner Bros was, for the bulk of the 1990s in particular, the studio that the others were trying to mimic. It worked with the same stars and filmmakers time and time again, and under then-chiefs Terry Semel and Robert Daly, relationships with key talent were paramount.
Furthermore, the studio knew to leave that talent to do its job, and was also ahead of the pack in developing franchises that it could rely on to give it a string of hits.
However, whilst Warner Bros is having troubles now, its way of doing business was first seriously challenged by the failure of its slate in the summer of 1997. Once again, it seemed to have a line up to cherish, that others were envious of. But as film by film failed to click, every facet of Warner Bros’ blockbuster strategy suddenly came under scrutiny, and would ultimately fairly dramatically change. Just two summers later, the studio released The Matrix, and blockbuster cinema changed again.
But come the start of summer 1997? These are the movies that Warner Bros had lined up, and this is what happened…
February - National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation
Things actually had got off to a decent enough start for the studio earlier in the year, so it's worth kicking off there. It brought Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo back together, for the fourth National Lampoon movie, and the first since 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Interestingly, it dropped the National Lampoon moniker in the Us, and instead released the eventual movie as Vegas Vacation. It was a belated sequel, back when belated sequels weren’t that big a thing.
The film was quickly pulled apart by reviewers, but it still just about clawed a profit. The production budget of $25m was eclipsed by the Us gross of $36m, and the movie would do comfortable business on video/DVD. Not a massive hit, then, but hardly a project that had a sense of foreboding about it.
Yet the problems were not far away.
May – Father's Day
Warner Bros had a mix of movies released in the Us in March and April 1997, including modest Wesley Snipes-headlined thriller Murder At 1600, and family flick Shiloh. But it launched its summer season with Father’s Day, an expensive packaged comedy from director Ivan Reitman, starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. It had hit written all over it.
Father’s Day was one of the movies packaged by the CAA agency, and its then-head, Mike Ovitz (listed regularly by Premiere magazine in the 1990s as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, if not the most powerful man). That he brought together the stars, the director and the project, gave a studio a price tag, and the studio duly paid it. Given Warner Bros’ devotion to star talent (Mel Gibson, then one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and a major Warner Bros talent, was persuaded to film a cameo), it was a natural home for the film. It quickly did the deal. few questions asked.
That package, and CAA’s fees for putting it together, brought the budget for a fairly straightforward comedy to a then-staggering $85m. The problem, though, was that the film simply wasn’t very good. It’s one of those projects that looks great on paper, less great when exposed on a great big screen. Warner Bros has snapped it up, without - it seems - even properly reading the script.
Premiere magazine quoted a Warner Bros insider back in November 1997 as saying “when [CAA] calls and says ‘we have a package, Father’s Day, with Williams and Crystal and Reitman, we say ‘great’”, adding “we don’t scrutinise the production. When we saw the movie, it took the wind out of us. We kept reshooting and enhancing, but you can’t fix something that’s bad”.
And it was bad.
The movie would prove to be the first big misfire of the summer, grossing just $35m in the Us, and not adding a fat lot more elsewhere in the world. Warner Bros’ first film of the summer was a certified flop. More would soon follow.
May - Addicted To Love
A more modestly priced project was Addicted To Love, a romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick. Just over a year later, Warner Bros would hit big when Meg Ryan reunited with Tom Hanks for Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail. But here? The film was a modest success, at best.
Directed by Griffin Dunne (making his directorial debut), and put together in partnership with Miramax, Addicted To Love was based around the Robert Palmer song of the same name. But whilst it was sold as a romcom, the muddled final cut was actually a fair bit darker. There was an underlying nastiness to some moments in the film, and when the final box office was tallied, it came in lower than the usual returns for pictures from Ryan or Broderick. Counter-programming it against the release of The Lost World: Jurassic Park didn’t massively help in this instance either, especially as the Jurassic Park sequel would smash opening weekend records.
Addicted To Love ended up with $34.6m at the Us box office. It would eke out a small profit.
June - Batman & Robin
And this is when the alarm bells started to ring very, very loudly. Summer 1997 was supposed to be about a trio of sure-fire hit sequels: Batman 4, Jurassic Park 2 and Speed 2. Only one of those would ultimately bring home the box office bacon, the others being destroyed by critics, and ultimately leaving far more empty seats than anticipated in multiplexes.
Batman & Robin, it’s easy to forget, came off the back of 1995’s Joel Schumacher-steered Batman reboot, Batman Forever that year's biggest movie). It had one of the fastest-growing stars in the world in the Batsuit (George Clooney), and the McDonald’s deals were signed even before the script was typed up. You don’t need us to tell you that you could tell, something of a theme already in Warner Bros' summer of '97.
That said, Batman & Robin still gave Warner Bros a big opening, but in the infancy of the internet as we know it, poisonous word of mouth was already beginning to spread. The film’s negative cost Warner Bros up to $140m, before marketing and distribution costs, and it opened in the Us to a hardly-sniffy $42m of business (although that was down from previous Batman movies).
But that word of mouth still accelerated its departure from cinemas. It was then very rare for a film to make over 40% of its Us gross in its first weekend. But that’s just what Batman & Robin did, taking $107.3m in America, part of a worldwide total of $238.2m. This was the worst return for a Batman movie to date, and Warner Bros had to swiftly put the brakes on plans to get Batman Triumphant moving.
It would be eight years until Batman returned to the big screen, in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Warner Bros would undergo big changes in the intervening period.
As for the immediate aftermath of Batman & Robin? Warner Bros co-chief Robert Daly would note at the end of '97 that “we’d have been better off with more action in the picture. The movie had to service too many characters”, adding that “the next Batman we do, in three years – and we have a deal with George Clooney to do it – will have one villain”.
Fortunately, Warner Bros’ one solid hit of the summer was just around the corner…
July - Contact
And breathe out.
Warner Bros bet heavily again on expensive talent here, with Robert Zemeckis bringing his adaptation of Carl Sagan’s Contact to the studio for his first film post-Forrest Gump. Warner Bros duly footed the $90m bill (back when that was still seen as a lot of money for a movie), a good chunk of which went to Jodie Foster. It invested heavily in special effects, and gave Zemeckis licence to make the film that he wanted.
The studio was rewarded with the most intelligent and arguably the best blockbuster of the summer. I’ve looked back at Contact in a lot more detail here, and it remains a fascinating film that’s stood the test of time (and arguably influenced Christopher Nolan’s more recent Interstellar).
Reviews were strong, it looked terrific, and the initial box office was good.
But then the problem hit. For whilst Contact was a solid hit for Warner Bros, it wasn’t a massively profitable one. Had Father’s Day and Batman & Robin shouldered the box office load there were supposed to, it perhaps wouldn’t have been a problem. But when they failed to take off, the pressure shifted to Contact.
The movie would gross $100.9m in the Us, and add another $70m overseas (this being an era were international box office rarely had the importance it has today). But once Warner Bros had paid its bills, there wasn’t a fat lot over for itself. Fortunately, the film still sells on disc and on-demand. Yet it wasn’t to be the massive hit the studio needed back in 1997.
July - One Eight Seven
From director Kevin Reynolds, the man who helmed Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and Waterworld, came modestly-priced drama 187, starring Samuel L Jackson (in a strong performance). Warner Bros wouldn’t have had massive box office expectations for the film (although it can't have been unaware that the inspirational teacher sub-genre was always worth a few quid), and it shared production duties on the $20m movie with Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions. But still, it would have had its eye on a modest success. What it got in return was red ink.
The film’s not a bad one, and certainly worth seeking out. But poor reviews gave the film an uphill struggle from the off – smaller productions arriving mid-summer really needed critics on their side, as they arguably still do – and it opened to just $2.2m of business (the less edgy, Michelle Pfeiffer-headlined school drama Dangerous Minds had been a surprise hit not two years before).
By the time its run was done, 187 hadn’t even come close to covering its production costs, with just under $6m banked.
Warner Bros’ summer slate was running out of films. But at least it had one of its most reliable movie stars around the corner…
August - Conspiracy Theory
What could go wrong? Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts were two of the biggest movie stars in the world in 1997, at a time when movie stars still equated to box office gold. Director Richard Donner, one of Warner Bros’ favourite directors, had delivered the Lethal Weapons, Maverick, Superman, The Goonies and more for the studio. Put them altogether, with Patrick Stewart (coming to wider public consciousness at the time off the back of his Star Trek: The Next Generation work) as a villain, and it should have been a big hit.
Conspiracy Theory proved to be one of the more ambitious summer blockbusters of the era. It lacks a good first act, which would be really useful in actually setting up more of what’s going on. But Gibson played an edgy cab driver who believes in deep government conspiracies, and finds himself getting closer to the truth than those around him sometimes give him credit for.
Warner Bros was probably expecting another Lethal Weapon with the reunion of Gibson (who had to be persuaded to take Conspiracy Theory on) and Donner (it’s pretty much what it got with the hugely enjoyable Maverick a few years’ earlier), but instead it got a darker drama, with an uneasy central character that didn’t exactly play to the summer box office crowd.
The bigger problem, though, was that the film never quite worked as well as you might hope. Yet star power did have advantages. While no juggernaut, the film did decent business, grossing $137m worldwide off the back of an $80m budget ($40m of which was spent on the salaries for the talent before a single roll of film was loaded into a camera). That said, in the Us it knocked a genuine smash hit, Air Force One, off the top spot. Mind you in hindsight, that was probably the film that the studio wished it had made (the cockpit set of Warner Bros' own Executive Decision was repurposed for Air Force One, fact fans).
Still: Warner Bros did get Lethal Weapon 4 off Gibson and Donner a year later…
August - Free Willy 3: The Rescue
Yeah.
Warner Bros opened its third Free Willy film on the same day as Conspiracy Theory (can you imagine a studio opening two big films on the same day now), but it was clear that this was a franchise long past its best days (and its best days hardly bring back the fondest of memories).
Still, Free Willy movies were relatively modest in cost to put together, and Warner Bros presumably felt this was a simple cashpoint project. But in a year when lots of family movies did less business than expected (Disney’s Hercules, Fox’s Home Alone 3, Disney’s Mr Magoo), Free Willy 3 barely troubled the box office. It took in just over $3m in total, and Willy would not be seen on the inside of a cinema again.
August - Steel
Not much was expected from Steel, a superhero movie headlined by Shaquille O’Neal. Which was fortunate, because not much was had.
It had a mid-August release date in the Us, at a point when a mid-August release date was more of a dumping ground than anything else. And even though the budget was set at a relatively low $16m, the film – and it’s an overused time – pretty much bombed. It took $1.7m at the Us box office, and given that its appeal hinged on a major American sports star whose fame hardly transcended the globe, its international takings did not save it (it went straight to video in many territories).
It was a miserable end to what, for warner bros, had been a thoroughly miserable summer.
So what did hit big in summer 1997?
Summer 1997 was infamous for big films failing to take off in the way that had been expected – Hercules, Speed 2, and the aforementioned Warner Bros movies – but there were several bright spots. The big winner would be Barry Sonnenfeld’s light and sprightly sci-fi comedy Men In Black, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Star power too helped score big hits for Harrison Ford (Air Force One), Julia Roberts (My Best Friend’s Wedding) and John Travolta (Face/Off).
This was also the summer that Nicolas Cage cemented his action movie credentials with Face/Off and Con Air. Crucially, though, the star movies that hit were the ones that veered on the side of 'good'. For the first of many years, the internet was blamed for this.
Oh, and later in the year, incidentally, Titanic would redefine just what constituted a box office hit...
What came next for Warner Bros?
In the rest of 1997, Warner Bros had a mix of projects that again enjoyed mixed fortunes. The standout was Curtis Hanson’s stunning adaptation of L.A. Confidential, that also proved to be a surprise box office success. The Devil’s Advocate didn’t do too badly either.
However, two of the studio’s key filmmakers failed to really deliver come the end of 1997. Clint Eastwood’s Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil failed to ignite (although many felt he was always on a hiding to nothing in trying to adapt that for the screen), and Kevin Costner’s The Postman would prove arguably the most expensive box office disappointment of the year. No wonder the studio rushed Lethal Weapon 4 into production for summer 1998. Oh, and it had The Avengers underway too (not that one), that would prove to be a 1998 disappointment.
The studio would eventually take action. The Daly-Semel management team, that had reigned for 15 years, would break up at the end of 1999, as its traditional way of doing business became less successful. The pair had already future projects that were director driven to an extent (Eyes Wide Shut), and it would still invest in movies with stars (Wild Wild West). But the immediate plan of action following the disappointment of summer 1997 – to get Batman 5 and Superman Lives made – would falter. It wouldn’t be until 1999’s The Matrix (a film that Daly and Semel struggled to get) and – crucially – 2001’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone that the studio would really get its swagger back...
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Movies Feature Simon Brew Warner Bros 16 Jun 2016 - 05:19 Conspiracy Theory Father's Day Addicted To Love Contact National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation One Eight Seven Steel Batman & Robin Free Willy 3: The Rescue...
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Warner Bros has struggled with its blockbusters of late. But back in summer 1997 - Batman & Robin's year - it faced not dissimilar problems.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Warner Bros, following a string of costly movies that hadn’t hit box office gold (Pan, Jupiter Ascending, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., In The Heart Of The Sea), was restructuring its blockbuster movie business. Fewer films, fewer risks, more franchises, and more centering around movie universes seems to be the new approach, and the appointment of a new corporate team to oversee the Harry Potter franchise last week was one part of that.
In some ways, it marks the end of an era. Whilst it retains its relationships with key directing talent (Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood, Christopher Nolan for instance), Warner Bros was, for the bulk of the 1990s in particular, the studio that the others were trying to mimic. It worked with the same stars and filmmakers time and time again, and under then-chiefs Terry Semel and Robert Daly, relationships with key talent were paramount.
Furthermore, the studio knew to leave that talent to do its job, and was also ahead of the pack in developing franchises that it could rely on to give it a string of hits.
However, whilst Warner Bros is having troubles now, its way of doing business was first seriously challenged by the failure of its slate in the summer of 1997. Once again, it seemed to have a line up to cherish, that others were envious of. But as film by film failed to click, every facet of Warner Bros’ blockbuster strategy suddenly came under scrutiny, and would ultimately fairly dramatically change. Just two summers later, the studio released The Matrix, and blockbuster cinema changed again.
But come the start of summer 1997? These are the movies that Warner Bros had lined up, and this is what happened…
February - National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation
Things actually had got off to a decent enough start for the studio earlier in the year, so it's worth kicking off there. It brought Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo back together, for the fourth National Lampoon movie, and the first since 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Interestingly, it dropped the National Lampoon moniker in the Us, and instead released the eventual movie as Vegas Vacation. It was a belated sequel, back when belated sequels weren’t that big a thing.
The film was quickly pulled apart by reviewers, but it still just about clawed a profit. The production budget of $25m was eclipsed by the Us gross of $36m, and the movie would do comfortable business on video/DVD. Not a massive hit, then, but hardly a project that had a sense of foreboding about it.
Yet the problems were not far away.
May – Father's Day
Warner Bros had a mix of movies released in the Us in March and April 1997, including modest Wesley Snipes-headlined thriller Murder At 1600, and family flick Shiloh. But it launched its summer season with Father’s Day, an expensive packaged comedy from director Ivan Reitman, starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. It had hit written all over it.
Father’s Day was one of the movies packaged by the CAA agency, and its then-head, Mike Ovitz (listed regularly by Premiere magazine in the 1990s as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, if not the most powerful man). That he brought together the stars, the director and the project, gave a studio a price tag, and the studio duly paid it. Given Warner Bros’ devotion to star talent (Mel Gibson, then one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and a major Warner Bros talent, was persuaded to film a cameo), it was a natural home for the film. It quickly did the deal. few questions asked.
That package, and CAA’s fees for putting it together, brought the budget for a fairly straightforward comedy to a then-staggering $85m. The problem, though, was that the film simply wasn’t very good. It’s one of those projects that looks great on paper, less great when exposed on a great big screen. Warner Bros has snapped it up, without - it seems - even properly reading the script.
Premiere magazine quoted a Warner Bros insider back in November 1997 as saying “when [CAA] calls and says ‘we have a package, Father’s Day, with Williams and Crystal and Reitman, we say ‘great’”, adding “we don’t scrutinise the production. When we saw the movie, it took the wind out of us. We kept reshooting and enhancing, but you can’t fix something that’s bad”.
And it was bad.
The movie would prove to be the first big misfire of the summer, grossing just $35m in the Us, and not adding a fat lot more elsewhere in the world. Warner Bros’ first film of the summer was a certified flop. More would soon follow.
May - Addicted To Love
A more modestly priced project was Addicted To Love, a romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick. Just over a year later, Warner Bros would hit big when Meg Ryan reunited with Tom Hanks for Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail. But here? The film was a modest success, at best.
Directed by Griffin Dunne (making his directorial debut), and put together in partnership with Miramax, Addicted To Love was based around the Robert Palmer song of the same name. But whilst it was sold as a romcom, the muddled final cut was actually a fair bit darker. There was an underlying nastiness to some moments in the film, and when the final box office was tallied, it came in lower than the usual returns for pictures from Ryan or Broderick. Counter-programming it against the release of The Lost World: Jurassic Park didn’t massively help in this instance either, especially as the Jurassic Park sequel would smash opening weekend records.
Addicted To Love ended up with $34.6m at the Us box office. It would eke out a small profit.
June - Batman & Robin
And this is when the alarm bells started to ring very, very loudly. Summer 1997 was supposed to be about a trio of sure-fire hit sequels: Batman 4, Jurassic Park 2 and Speed 2. Only one of those would ultimately bring home the box office bacon, the others being destroyed by critics, and ultimately leaving far more empty seats than anticipated in multiplexes.
Batman & Robin, it’s easy to forget, came off the back of 1995’s Joel Schumacher-steered Batman reboot, Batman Forever that year's biggest movie). It had one of the fastest-growing stars in the world in the Batsuit (George Clooney), and the McDonald’s deals were signed even before the script was typed up. You don’t need us to tell you that you could tell, something of a theme already in Warner Bros' summer of '97.
That said, Batman & Robin still gave Warner Bros a big opening, but in the infancy of the internet as we know it, poisonous word of mouth was already beginning to spread. The film’s negative cost Warner Bros up to $140m, before marketing and distribution costs, and it opened in the Us to a hardly-sniffy $42m of business (although that was down from previous Batman movies).
But that word of mouth still accelerated its departure from cinemas. It was then very rare for a film to make over 40% of its Us gross in its first weekend. But that’s just what Batman & Robin did, taking $107.3m in America, part of a worldwide total of $238.2m. This was the worst return for a Batman movie to date, and Warner Bros had to swiftly put the brakes on plans to get Batman Triumphant moving.
It would be eight years until Batman returned to the big screen, in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Warner Bros would undergo big changes in the intervening period.
As for the immediate aftermath of Batman & Robin? Warner Bros co-chief Robert Daly would note at the end of '97 that “we’d have been better off with more action in the picture. The movie had to service too many characters”, adding that “the next Batman we do, in three years – and we have a deal with George Clooney to do it – will have one villain”.
Fortunately, Warner Bros’ one solid hit of the summer was just around the corner…
July - Contact
And breathe out.
Warner Bros bet heavily again on expensive talent here, with Robert Zemeckis bringing his adaptation of Carl Sagan’s Contact to the studio for his first film post-Forrest Gump. Warner Bros duly footed the $90m bill (back when that was still seen as a lot of money for a movie), a good chunk of which went to Jodie Foster. It invested heavily in special effects, and gave Zemeckis licence to make the film that he wanted.
The studio was rewarded with the most intelligent and arguably the best blockbuster of the summer. I’ve looked back at Contact in a lot more detail here, and it remains a fascinating film that’s stood the test of time (and arguably influenced Christopher Nolan’s more recent Interstellar).
Reviews were strong, it looked terrific, and the initial box office was good.
But then the problem hit. For whilst Contact was a solid hit for Warner Bros, it wasn’t a massively profitable one. Had Father’s Day and Batman & Robin shouldered the box office load there were supposed to, it perhaps wouldn’t have been a problem. But when they failed to take off, the pressure shifted to Contact.
The movie would gross $100.9m in the Us, and add another $70m overseas (this being an era were international box office rarely had the importance it has today). But once Warner Bros had paid its bills, there wasn’t a fat lot over for itself. Fortunately, the film still sells on disc and on-demand. Yet it wasn’t to be the massive hit the studio needed back in 1997.
July - One Eight Seven
From director Kevin Reynolds, the man who helmed Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and Waterworld, came modestly-priced drama 187, starring Samuel L Jackson (in a strong performance). Warner Bros wouldn’t have had massive box office expectations for the film (although it can't have been unaware that the inspirational teacher sub-genre was always worth a few quid), and it shared production duties on the $20m movie with Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions. But still, it would have had its eye on a modest success. What it got in return was red ink.
The film’s not a bad one, and certainly worth seeking out. But poor reviews gave the film an uphill struggle from the off – smaller productions arriving mid-summer really needed critics on their side, as they arguably still do – and it opened to just $2.2m of business (the less edgy, Michelle Pfeiffer-headlined school drama Dangerous Minds had been a surprise hit not two years before).
By the time its run was done, 187 hadn’t even come close to covering its production costs, with just under $6m banked.
Warner Bros’ summer slate was running out of films. But at least it had one of its most reliable movie stars around the corner…
August - Conspiracy Theory
What could go wrong? Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts were two of the biggest movie stars in the world in 1997, at a time when movie stars still equated to box office gold. Director Richard Donner, one of Warner Bros’ favourite directors, had delivered the Lethal Weapons, Maverick, Superman, The Goonies and more for the studio. Put them altogether, with Patrick Stewart (coming to wider public consciousness at the time off the back of his Star Trek: The Next Generation work) as a villain, and it should have been a big hit.
Conspiracy Theory proved to be one of the more ambitious summer blockbusters of the era. It lacks a good first act, which would be really useful in actually setting up more of what’s going on. But Gibson played an edgy cab driver who believes in deep government conspiracies, and finds himself getting closer to the truth than those around him sometimes give him credit for.
Warner Bros was probably expecting another Lethal Weapon with the reunion of Gibson (who had to be persuaded to take Conspiracy Theory on) and Donner (it’s pretty much what it got with the hugely enjoyable Maverick a few years’ earlier), but instead it got a darker drama, with an uneasy central character that didn’t exactly play to the summer box office crowd.
The bigger problem, though, was that the film never quite worked as well as you might hope. Yet star power did have advantages. While no juggernaut, the film did decent business, grossing $137m worldwide off the back of an $80m budget ($40m of which was spent on the salaries for the talent before a single roll of film was loaded into a camera). That said, in the Us it knocked a genuine smash hit, Air Force One, off the top spot. Mind you in hindsight, that was probably the film that the studio wished it had made (the cockpit set of Warner Bros' own Executive Decision was repurposed for Air Force One, fact fans).
Still: Warner Bros did get Lethal Weapon 4 off Gibson and Donner a year later…
August - Free Willy 3: The Rescue
Yeah.
Warner Bros opened its third Free Willy film on the same day as Conspiracy Theory (can you imagine a studio opening two big films on the same day now), but it was clear that this was a franchise long past its best days (and its best days hardly bring back the fondest of memories).
Still, Free Willy movies were relatively modest in cost to put together, and Warner Bros presumably felt this was a simple cashpoint project. But in a year when lots of family movies did less business than expected (Disney’s Hercules, Fox’s Home Alone 3, Disney’s Mr Magoo), Free Willy 3 barely troubled the box office. It took in just over $3m in total, and Willy would not be seen on the inside of a cinema again.
August - Steel
Not much was expected from Steel, a superhero movie headlined by Shaquille O’Neal. Which was fortunate, because not much was had.
It had a mid-August release date in the Us, at a point when a mid-August release date was more of a dumping ground than anything else. And even though the budget was set at a relatively low $16m, the film – and it’s an overused time – pretty much bombed. It took $1.7m at the Us box office, and given that its appeal hinged on a major American sports star whose fame hardly transcended the globe, its international takings did not save it (it went straight to video in many territories).
It was a miserable end to what, for warner bros, had been a thoroughly miserable summer.
So what did hit big in summer 1997?
Summer 1997 was infamous for big films failing to take off in the way that had been expected – Hercules, Speed 2, and the aforementioned Warner Bros movies – but there were several bright spots. The big winner would be Barry Sonnenfeld’s light and sprightly sci-fi comedy Men In Black, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Star power too helped score big hits for Harrison Ford (Air Force One), Julia Roberts (My Best Friend’s Wedding) and John Travolta (Face/Off).
This was also the summer that Nicolas Cage cemented his action movie credentials with Face/Off and Con Air. Crucially, though, the star movies that hit were the ones that veered on the side of 'good'. For the first of many years, the internet was blamed for this.
Oh, and later in the year, incidentally, Titanic would redefine just what constituted a box office hit...
What came next for Warner Bros?
In the rest of 1997, Warner Bros had a mix of projects that again enjoyed mixed fortunes. The standout was Curtis Hanson’s stunning adaptation of L.A. Confidential, that also proved to be a surprise box office success. The Devil’s Advocate didn’t do too badly either.
However, two of the studio’s key filmmakers failed to really deliver come the end of 1997. Clint Eastwood’s Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil failed to ignite (although many felt he was always on a hiding to nothing in trying to adapt that for the screen), and Kevin Costner’s The Postman would prove arguably the most expensive box office disappointment of the year. No wonder the studio rushed Lethal Weapon 4 into production for summer 1998. Oh, and it had The Avengers underway too (not that one), that would prove to be a 1998 disappointment.
The studio would eventually take action. The Daly-Semel management team, that had reigned for 15 years, would break up at the end of 1999, as its traditional way of doing business became less successful. The pair had already future projects that were director driven to an extent (Eyes Wide Shut), and it would still invest in movies with stars (Wild Wild West). But the immediate plan of action following the disappointment of summer 1997 – to get Batman 5 and Superman Lives made – would falter. It wouldn’t be until 1999’s The Matrix (a film that Daly and Semel struggled to get) and – crucially – 2001’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone that the studio would really get its swagger back...
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- 6/13/2016
- Den of Geek
Every once in a while we bear witness to the cinematic resurrection of the messiah. He is absent from the silver screen for a period of years, and then, all at once, it’s as if Hollywood suddenly remembers that there is a market for film adaptations of Bible stories. We find ourselves on the cusp of one such movie wave, as last year saw the release of Last Days In The Desert, February gave us Risen by Kevin Reynolds, news has broken of a Mary Magdalene biopic in development, and now, Oscar nominated screenwriter Randall Wallace has confirmed plans for a sequel to 2004’s The Passion Of The Christ.
Directed by Academy Award winner Mel Gibson, and co-written by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald, The Passion Of The Christ is a brutal, graphic depiction of the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus Of Nazareth – featuring torture and crucifixion – adapted...
Directed by Academy Award winner Mel Gibson, and co-written by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald, The Passion Of The Christ is a brutal, graphic depiction of the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus Of Nazareth – featuring torture and crucifixion – adapted...
- 6/10/2016
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
Much like the deaths of Bruce and Martha Wayne, Jesus’ crucifixion will forever be recreated throughout the history of cinema. It was only a few months ago that I wrote about Risen, Kevin Reynolds’ retelling of Jesus’ resurrection, and now here comes Rodrigo García’s Last Days In The Desert, ready to open those same stigmata wounds. But García smartly strays away from familiar passages from notable apostles. Instead, he captures the essence of Jesus through a fictitious lesson, which challenges God’s son before ever reaching the holy land. Rewriting the Bible – now you’re just asking to be smitten.
Ewan McGregor stars as the Christian savior, Jesus Christ aka Yeshua. As he traverses a vast desert landscape, traveling toward Jerusalem, he encounters a man (Ciarán Hinds), a wife (Ayelet Zurer), and their son (Tye Sheridan), living alone. The father wants his son to stay around and tend to his sick mother,...
Ewan McGregor stars as the Christian savior, Jesus Christ aka Yeshua. As he traverses a vast desert landscape, traveling toward Jerusalem, he encounters a man (Ciarán Hinds), a wife (Ayelet Zurer), and their son (Tye Sheridan), living alone. The father wants his son to stay around and tend to his sick mother,...
- 5/11/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
The messiah is ‘beamingly benign’ and Pilate a ‘harassed fusspot’ in this Passion of the Christ-lite
In 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ became an astonishing Easter hit, depicting in horrifyingly graphic fashion the torture and crucifixion of Jesus. This “faith-based” offering from Waterworld director Kevin Reynolds picks up where Gibson’s film left off (albeit in less brutal fashion), with Joseph Fiennes’s Roman tribune Clavius investigating reports that the man whose death he witnessed has risen from the grave. It’s solidly middling fare, soft of heart and script, and given to moments of foolishly miraculous folly. Peter Firth plays Pilate as a harassed fusspot, while Cliff Curtis (so brilliant in 2014’s The Dark Horse) is beamingly benign as the resurrected “Yeshua”.
Continue reading...
In 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ became an astonishing Easter hit, depicting in horrifyingly graphic fashion the torture and crucifixion of Jesus. This “faith-based” offering from Waterworld director Kevin Reynolds picks up where Gibson’s film left off (albeit in less brutal fashion), with Joseph Fiennes’s Roman tribune Clavius investigating reports that the man whose death he witnessed has risen from the grave. It’s solidly middling fare, soft of heart and script, and given to moments of foolishly miraculous folly. Peter Firth plays Pilate as a harassed fusspot, while Cliff Curtis (so brilliant in 2014’s The Dark Horse) is beamingly benign as the resurrected “Yeshua”.
Continue reading...
- 3/20/2016
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Initially intriguing detective tale of ancient Rome hops genres into fantasy, with a strange manic-preacher-dream-boy seduction of its pragmatic protagonist. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of “faith-based” movies
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Here’s something we don’t see often on the big screen: a detective story set in the ancient world. There are lots of novels, but I can’t think of a single other movie in the mold of Risen, an initially intriguing mystery tale in which a politically ambitious Roman soldier, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes [Hercules, Running with Scissors], who is terrific here), is set to a policing task by Pilate (Peter Firth: Spooks: The Greater Good, Pearl Harbor), the Roman governor of the province of Judea in the Middle East. It seems that the followers of a local rabble-rousing preacher who was just executed believe that...
I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of “faith-based” movies
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Here’s something we don’t see often on the big screen: a detective story set in the ancient world. There are lots of novels, but I can’t think of a single other movie in the mold of Risen, an initially intriguing mystery tale in which a politically ambitious Roman soldier, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes [Hercules, Running with Scissors], who is terrific here), is set to a policing task by Pilate (Peter Firth: Spooks: The Greater Good, Pearl Harbor), the Roman governor of the province of Judea in the Middle East. It seems that the followers of a local rabble-rousing preacher who was just executed believe that...
- 3/18/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
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From director Kevin Reynolds comes Risen, a faith-based movie with interesting pros and cons...
The trailer for Risen declares it “the most important manhunt in history”, which means they obviously haven’t seen The Fugitive. Let’s tread a bit carefully, though. I’m not about to knock anyone’s religion, but if Risen has a problem, it’s that it takes a stance on the divinity of Christ.
This isn’t a theological or ethical problem; it’s a narrative one. See, Risen bowls along quite agreeably as a sort of police procedural, benefiting from the mystery of whether a man really has risen from the dead or not. But when it makes a decision on this, the intrigue is lost and your interest wanes a bit.
Yes, a police procedural. Battle-scarred Roman tribune Clavius (a beefed-up Joseph Fiennes) is busy shoving his sword through people...
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From director Kevin Reynolds comes Risen, a faith-based movie with interesting pros and cons...
The trailer for Risen declares it “the most important manhunt in history”, which means they obviously haven’t seen The Fugitive. Let’s tread a bit carefully, though. I’m not about to knock anyone’s religion, but if Risen has a problem, it’s that it takes a stance on the divinity of Christ.
This isn’t a theological or ethical problem; it’s a narrative one. See, Risen bowls along quite agreeably as a sort of police procedural, benefiting from the mystery of whether a man really has risen from the dead or not. But when it makes a decision on this, the intrigue is lost and your interest wanes a bit.
Yes, a police procedural. Battle-scarred Roman tribune Clavius (a beefed-up Joseph Fiennes) is busy shoving his sword through people...
- 3/17/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
★★★☆☆ From Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld director Kevin Reynolds, Risen provides an alternative viewpoint on the Resurrection and its aftermath. A film that starts out with earnest intentions ends up falling somewhere between a two-thousand-year-old episode of Silent Witness and an educational video R.E. teachers might play to schoolchildren. That's not to say that Risen is without its virtues; the production values are solid, the soundtrack not overly intrusive and whilst the characterisation leaves something to be desired, Joseph Fiennes does his best with a lot of middle-distance staring.
- 3/17/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Stephen Chow's The Mermaid.
Deadpool continues to trounce the competition, ringing up $7.8 million over the weekend to bring its cumulative total to just over $27 million..
By comparison, the weekend's runner-up - Warner Bros' comedy How To Be Single, starring Rebel Wilson - brought in $2.7 million, opening on 229 screens in its first week.
Also debuting was Ride Along 2, starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, pulling in $1.2 million on 194 screens.
Next best was the much-derided Zoolander 2, which dropped fifty-eight percent in its second week to ring up over $1.1 million over the weekend, bringing its cume close to $5.7 million.
Transmission's Brooklyn dropped only twenty percent in week two, tallying up $836,966 over the weekend, and now sitting at near $2.8 million overall.
The highest-debuting film after How to Be Single and Ride Along 2 was another comedy, The Mermaid, a Chinese film directed by Kung Fu Hustle's Stephen Chow about a...
Deadpool continues to trounce the competition, ringing up $7.8 million over the weekend to bring its cumulative total to just over $27 million..
By comparison, the weekend's runner-up - Warner Bros' comedy How To Be Single, starring Rebel Wilson - brought in $2.7 million, opening on 229 screens in its first week.
Also debuting was Ride Along 2, starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, pulling in $1.2 million on 194 screens.
Next best was the much-derided Zoolander 2, which dropped fifty-eight percent in its second week to ring up over $1.1 million over the weekend, bringing its cume close to $5.7 million.
Transmission's Brooklyn dropped only twenty percent in week two, tallying up $836,966 over the weekend, and now sitting at near $2.8 million overall.
The highest-debuting film after How to Be Single and Ride Along 2 was another comedy, The Mermaid, a Chinese film directed by Kung Fu Hustle's Stephen Chow about a...
- 2/21/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Chicago – I am a recovering Catholic, which I’ll tell you a million times – or maybe shortly after I meet you – and I have to say I had a well of nostalgia while experiencing “Risen,” the story of Jesus’s Resurrection and aftermath. It is enjoyable, in a strange way, for Christians and film fans alike.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
There is a lightness to the story, with a little historical re-creation thrown in for good measure. The Jerusalem of Christ’s time is portrayed with the dirt and grit of the age, which also lent an air of authenticity. It reminded me of the 48 hours after the John F. Kennedy assassination, in which the shock of the event reverberates like a wave. The intrigue of whether Jesus – called by his Hebrew name Yeshua in the film – was the true Messiah played right into into the I-wash-my-hands of those who were charged with nipping it in the bud.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
There is a lightness to the story, with a little historical re-creation thrown in for good measure. The Jerusalem of Christ’s time is portrayed with the dirt and grit of the age, which also lent an air of authenticity. It reminded me of the 48 hours after the John F. Kennedy assassination, in which the shock of the event reverberates like a wave. The intrigue of whether Jesus – called by his Hebrew name Yeshua in the film – was the true Messiah played right into into the I-wash-my-hands of those who were charged with nipping it in the bud.
- 2/20/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
No matter what, religion is always going to be interesting debate in any form of an adaption. That’s why biblical films are hard to make and why we have so few. The Passion of the Christ (2004) was a film about the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus which was marked by much controversy due its violent and graphic themes. A different kind of biblical film was The Prince of Egypt (1998), an animated film, which was designed specifically for the kid market. When it comes down to it, the stand out biblical film will always be The Ten Commandments (1956). It was a film that was not only unique for its time but it has also remained popular to the present day. The new biblical film Risen brings more of a blockbuster feel to the genre. Directed by Kevin Reynolds, who is probably best remembered for directing the infamous...
- 2/19/2016
- by Alexander Wolff
- CinemaNerdz
Modern faith-based filmmaking generally falls into two categories: dramatically inert contemporary parables and stubbornly reverential biblical adaptations. Sony-based imprint Affirm Films has especially focused on the former through emotionally turgid straw man affairs like Heaven is For Real and War Room, but Risen is the studio’s first dip into period piece territory, and it’s a satisfying success compared to their usual humorlessness and laughably serious moralizing.
Helmed by Kevin Reynolds, who is known primarily for historical popcorn action films like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Count of Monte Cristo, Risen delves into the cinematically dog-eared story of Christianity’s spiritual center piece: the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Cliff Curtis). The key difference is that Risen views the proceedings through the eyes of a heathen outsider – a military tribunal named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) – framing the story as one half of a detective story and the second half as...
Helmed by Kevin Reynolds, who is known primarily for historical popcorn action films like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Count of Monte Cristo, Risen delves into the cinematically dog-eared story of Christianity’s spiritual center piece: the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Cliff Curtis). The key difference is that Risen views the proceedings through the eyes of a heathen outsider – a military tribunal named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) – framing the story as one half of a detective story and the second half as...
- 2/19/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Joseph Fiennes’s Roman soldier goes on the hunt for a missing body and finds Jesus in this retelling of the crucifixion, which despite scripting sins is heaven compared with other religious films
A detective is summoned to his chief’s office, where he’s read the riot act. Get some results and get them fast – the head of the entire department will be here in a matter of days! Lean on your informants if you have to, just solve this case and solve it now! It’s a scene from a thousand different cop movies, only this time the detective is a Roman tribune, his angry boss is Pontius Pilate, the ticking clock is a visit from Emperor Tiberius and the missing person is Jesus of Nazareth, the risen Christ.
It’s not a bad idea, really, to graft the conventions of a police procedural on to a Bible epic,...
A detective is summoned to his chief’s office, where he’s read the riot act. Get some results and get them fast – the head of the entire department will be here in a matter of days! Lean on your informants if you have to, just solve this case and solve it now! It’s a scene from a thousand different cop movies, only this time the detective is a Roman tribune, his angry boss is Pontius Pilate, the ticking clock is a visit from Emperor Tiberius and the missing person is Jesus of Nazareth, the risen Christ.
It’s not a bad idea, really, to graft the conventions of a police procedural on to a Bible epic,...
- 2/19/2016
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
Risen is a modest but engaging riff on the old post-crucifixion Easter legend as told through the eyes of a non-believer. In 33 Ad Jerusalem, Roman occupiers are under threat of a Jewish uprising. The Jews claim a Nazarene named Yeshua (aka Jesus – played by Clifton Curtis) is the Messiah, so Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) promptly has him crucified, then orders Roman officer Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) to witness the execution and help dispose of the body. Three days later Jesus’ corpse has vanished from its cave tomb, though the entrance was blocked with a boulder and watched by guards. Pilate orders Clavius and Lucius (Tom Felton), to find Jesus and his disciples at all costs, for fear that if they don’t quickly produce a corpse, the Jews will rise up. Thus begins a manhunt of biblical proportions.
Risen is the latest Christian-friendly production from (now Sony-owned) Affirm Films, which has...
Risen is the latest Christian-friendly production from (now Sony-owned) Affirm Films, which has...
- 2/19/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Catholicism classes everywhere, rejoice! Teachers now have another biblical epic worthy of a Friday treat; one that praises the word of the Lord with little inquisitive substance. Risen, directed by Kevin Reynolds (of Waterworld fame), has all the makings of a deceptive religious adventure, and plenty of bias to go around. Believers will find the holy spirit surging through their soul, while fence-teeterers might leave overstuffed, and a bit disillusioned, by a message that never grows larger than two simple words: “Have faith.” If you’ve got it, great! If you don’t? Find it! There. Risen has solved years of bloodshed and despair in the name of unseen deities. Too bad I had my money on the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
Joseph Fiennes stars as Clavius, a Roman Tribune who witnesses the resurrection of Jesus through his own eyes. Clavius’ perspective is that of a third party, so we’re...
Joseph Fiennes stars as Clavius, a Roman Tribune who witnesses the resurrection of Jesus through his own eyes. Clavius’ perspective is that of a third party, so we’re...
- 2/18/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a story that has been told countless times, but director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld) has managed to find a new angle on it with his historical epic Risen.
The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a powerful Roman Centurion who is ordered by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of Jesus’ resurrection when it is discovered that his body has gone missing from its resting place.
Along with his faithful aide Lucius (Tom Felton), he interrogates various people in an effort to get to the truth and finds many people who are beyond convinced that the Messiah is indeed walking the earth again. When Clavius comes face to face with the truth, it forever changes him and makes him a believer in a way he never could have expected.
Recently, the press day for Risen was held...
The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a powerful Roman Centurion who is ordered by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of Jesus’ resurrection when it is discovered that his body has gone missing from its resting place.
Along with his faithful aide Lucius (Tom Felton), he interrogates various people in an effort to get to the truth and finds many people who are beyond convinced that the Messiah is indeed walking the earth again. When Clavius comes face to face with the truth, it forever changes him and makes him a believer in a way he never could have expected.
Recently, the press day for Risen was held...
- 2/18/2016
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a story that has been told countless times, but director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld) has managed to find a new angle on it with his historical epic Risen.
The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a powerful Roman Centurion who is ordered by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of Jesus’ resurrection when it is discovered that his body has gone missing from its resting place.
Along with his faithful aide Lucius (Tom Felton), he interrogates various people in an effort to get to the truth and finds many people who are beyond convinced that the Messiah is indeed walking the earth again. When Clavius comes face to face with the truth, it forever changes him and makes him a believer in a way he never could have expected.
Recently, the press day for Risen was held...
The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a powerful Roman Centurion who is ordered by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of Jesus’ resurrection when it is discovered that his body has gone missing from its resting place.
Along with his faithful aide Lucius (Tom Felton), he interrogates various people in an effort to get to the truth and finds many people who are beyond convinced that the Messiah is indeed walking the earth again. When Clavius comes face to face with the truth, it forever changes him and makes him a believer in a way he never could have expected.
Recently, the press day for Risen was held...
- 2/17/2016
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Risen” starring Joseph Fiennes! “Risen” is an epic Biblical story of the Resurrection as told through the eyes of a non-believer.
“Risen,” which opens on Feb. 19, 2016 and is rated “PG-13,” also stars Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, María Botto, Luis Callejo, Antonio Gil, Stewart Scudamore and Andy Gathergood from writer and director Kevin Reynolds and writer Paul Aiello.
To win your free passes to “Risen” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!
“Risen,” which opens on Feb. 19, 2016 and is rated “PG-13,” also stars Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, María Botto, Luis Callejo, Antonio Gil, Stewart Scudamore and Andy Gathergood from writer and director Kevin Reynolds and writer Paul Aiello.
To win your free passes to “Risen” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!
- 2/15/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Risen is the epic Biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non-believer. Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a powerful Roman military tribune, and his aide, Lucius (Tom Felton), are tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to Jesus (referred to by the Hebrew name Yeshua in the film) in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.
Risen stars Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Tom Felton (Harry Potter), Peter Firth (The Hunt for Red October; “Mi-5”), and Cliff Curtis (“Fear the Walking Dead”).
Directed by Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), with a score by Roque Baños, Risen opens in theaters nationwide Friday, February 19th.
Wamg invites you to enter for a chance to win a pass (Good for 2) to the advance screening of Risen on Tuesday, February 16 at 7Pm in the St.
Risen stars Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Tom Felton (Harry Potter), Peter Firth (The Hunt for Red October; “Mi-5”), and Cliff Curtis (“Fear the Walking Dead”).
Directed by Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), with a score by Roque Baños, Risen opens in theaters nationwide Friday, February 19th.
Wamg invites you to enter for a chance to win a pass (Good for 2) to the advance screening of Risen on Tuesday, February 16 at 7Pm in the St.
- 2/9/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Alan Rickman. Alan Rickman dead at 69: Professor Snape in 'Harry Potter' movies Alan Rickman, best known for his role as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, died of cancer on Jan. 14, '16. Rickman (born on Feb. 21, 1946, in London) was 69. Rickman first played Professor Severus Snape – who looks like a villain, walks like a villain, and talks like a villain, but who turns out to be anything but – in Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). One of many British stage and screen stars featured in the franchise toplining Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, Rickman would remain part of the Harry Potter gang until the final installment, David Yates' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). Alan Rickman movies Beginning with the Bruce Willis actioner Die Hard (1988), in which he plays the leader of a criminal gang, Alan Rickman was featured in nearly 50 movies.
- 1/14/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Bryan Fuller, show runner on NBC's now wrapped "Hannibal," is set to write and executive produce a reboot of the 1980s NBC anthology series "Amazing Stories".
Steven Spielberg produced the original series, and directed its "Ghost Train" pilot along with its World War II-themed double-length episode "The Mission," but he is not involved in this remake. Amblin TV's Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey however will be involved as executive producers.
The show ran from 1985 to 1987 and produced 45 episodes in total along with five Emmy award wins, one for guest actor John Lithgow. Filmmakers who took a crack at helming episodes include the likes of Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, Peter Hyams, Tobe Hooper, Joe Dante, Irvin Kershner, Danny DeVito, Ken Kwapis, Kevin Reynolds, Mick Garris and actors like Burt Reynolds, Timothy Hutton and Bob Balaban.
Fuller is also working on the upcoming Starz drama "American Gods".
Source: E! Online...
Steven Spielberg produced the original series, and directed its "Ghost Train" pilot along with its World War II-themed double-length episode "The Mission," but he is not involved in this remake. Amblin TV's Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey however will be involved as executive producers.
The show ran from 1985 to 1987 and produced 45 episodes in total along with five Emmy award wins, one for guest actor John Lithgow. Filmmakers who took a crack at helming episodes include the likes of Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, Peter Hyams, Tobe Hooper, Joe Dante, Irvin Kershner, Danny DeVito, Ken Kwapis, Kevin Reynolds, Mick Garris and actors like Burt Reynolds, Timothy Hutton and Bob Balaban.
Fuller is also working on the upcoming Starz drama "American Gods".
Source: E! Online...
- 10/23/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
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Deep Impact Vs Armageddon is not the only time similar movies have landed around the same time...
Usually, a competing project is poison for a studio. Especially in the era now where a blockbuster costs the national budget of a small country to get out into the world, you don't want to be up against a film with similar subject matter.
Yet this keeps happening, time and time again. Even now, there are two live action Jungle Book movies in various stages of production, for example. And let us not forget when K-9 and Turner And Hooch once did battle...
But how have the movie showdowns of old turned out? And are there any instances where everyone's a winner?
Er, not many as it happens...
The Haunting Vs The House On Haunted Hill
Let's start with two reasonably budgeted horror films, that both got wide releases. Jan De Bont...
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Deep Impact Vs Armageddon is not the only time similar movies have landed around the same time...
Usually, a competing project is poison for a studio. Especially in the era now where a blockbuster costs the national budget of a small country to get out into the world, you don't want to be up against a film with similar subject matter.
Yet this keeps happening, time and time again. Even now, there are two live action Jungle Book movies in various stages of production, for example. And let us not forget when K-9 and Turner And Hooch once did battle...
But how have the movie showdowns of old turned out? And are there any instances where everyone's a winner?
Er, not many as it happens...
The Haunting Vs The House On Haunted Hill
Let's start with two reasonably budgeted horror films, that both got wide releases. Jan De Bont...
- 10/14/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus has been the subject of many movies and TV series through the years, but Risen is looking to explore a different angle on part that particular story. Check out the first trailer for the film, which features Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton and Peter Firth. Kevin Reynolds’ film, which he co-wrote with Paul Aiello, follows Roman military tribune Clavius (Fiennes), a firm believer in his empire’s power and someone tasked with removing resistance. But when it appears that Jesus of Nazareth has – in accordance with his followers’ beliefs – risen from the dead after his crucifixion, Pontius Pilate (Firth) assigns Clavius and his aide Lucius (Felton) the task of figuring out the mystery, to avoid an uprising in Jerusalem.It’s certainly a sideways look at the story, and one that hasn’t often been tackled to such a degree. It could prove controversial,...
- 9/1/2015
- EmpireOnline
Risen's latest trailer brings you back in time thousands of years to an event said to have changed the world forever.
This sprawling biblical epic takes place in the aftermath of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, as the Romans frantically searched for his body.
Centurion Clavius's (Joseph Fiennes) quest to locate Christ's body sets off a crisis of conscience that brings his core beliefs into question.
Also starring in Risen are Fear the Walking Dead's Cliff Curtis as Christ, Italian screen veteran María Botto as Mary Magdalene and Peter Firth (Spooks) as Roman prefect Pontius Pilate.
This biblical tale was adapted by writer-director Kevin Reynolds, who penned the original Red Dawn and directed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Risen debuts in the Us on January 22, 2016. A UK release is set for March 18, 2016.
This sprawling biblical epic takes place in the aftermath of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, as the Romans frantically searched for his body.
Centurion Clavius's (Joseph Fiennes) quest to locate Christ's body sets off a crisis of conscience that brings his core beliefs into question.
Also starring in Risen are Fear the Walking Dead's Cliff Curtis as Christ, Italian screen veteran María Botto as Mary Magdalene and Peter Firth (Spooks) as Roman prefect Pontius Pilate.
This biblical tale was adapted by writer-director Kevin Reynolds, who penned the original Red Dawn and directed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Risen debuts in the Us on January 22, 2016. A UK release is set for March 18, 2016.
- 8/31/2015
- Digital Spy
Next week, expect another slew of thinkpieces about faith-based audiences spending big bucks at the multiplex. Why? Well, micro-budget Christian movie "War Room," being distributed Sony's faith-film outlet Affirm Films, is on track to make a sneak attack at the box office this weekend. In fact, it beat Zac Efron's "We Are Your Friends" in receipts on Thursday night. And not wasting a moment, Sony is using the opportunity to promote their next movie for the holy. There's a metaphor in here somewhere about Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers in the church, but I digress... Read More: Joseph Fiennes Investigates The Resurrection Of Jesus In Trailer For 'Risen,' Which Is Apparently Like 'Chinatown' Anyway, Kevin Reynolds of "Waterworld," "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves," and "Fandango" fame is behind the camera for this effort that stars Joseph Fiennes as a doubting Thomas (okay, not the biblical doubting Thomas) named.
- 8/28/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
"Waterworld" and "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves" director Kevin Reynolds returns with a new faith-based film "Risen" starring Joseph Fiennes as a Roman Centurion named Clavius.
Opening January 22nd, Fiennes' Clavius is charged by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of a risen Jewish messiah and to locate the missing body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to quell an imminent uprising in Jerusalem. Tom Felton, Peter Firth and Cliff Curtis also star.
The trailer comes as the micro-budget Christian movie "War Room" opening this weekend reportedly pounded the living daylights out of Zac Efron's new film "We Are Your Friends" in Thursday night preview box-office results.
Opening January 22nd, Fiennes' Clavius is charged by Pontius Pilate to investigate the rumors of a risen Jewish messiah and to locate the missing body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to quell an imminent uprising in Jerusalem. Tom Felton, Peter Firth and Cliff Curtis also star.
The trailer comes as the micro-budget Christian movie "War Room" opening this weekend reportedly pounded the living daylights out of Zac Efron's new film "We Are Your Friends" in Thursday night preview box-office results.
- 8/28/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
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