The maligned movie Kevin Costner admits was made during a “perfect storm” of chaos
The willingness Kevin Costner has always displayed to bet on himself deserves to be commended, even if it’s left his accountants and various studio executives pulling their hair out at various points.
After rocketing to stardom in the 1980s, Costner was one of Hollywood’s biggest, most popular, and bankable stars when The Untouchables, No Way Out, Bull Durham, and Field of Dreams released consecutively within the space of two years. Deciding that wasn’t enough, he tried his hand at directing.
Not for the last time, Costner funnelled millions of dollars into Dances with Wolves much to the chagrin of his advisors, only to get the last laugh when it conquered the box office and won seven Academy Awards including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
That hot streak continued on through Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, JFK, The Bodyguard, and A Perfect World, before the wheels started to wobble in the mid-1990s. It may have been The Postman that did severe damage to his standing and career, but Waterworld was the first sign Costner’s penchant for biting off more than he could chew was going to get the better of him eventually.
The most expensive production in history when cameras started rolling, the budget ballooned to a mammoth $175million during a torturous shoot that grew so tense it fractured the friendship between the leading man and director Kevin Reynolds for close to a decade.
It wasn’t quite the catastrophic bomb everyone was predicting, though, with Waterworld eventually turning a profit when syndication rights, home video sales, and the long-running theme park attraction bearing its name was factored in, but Costner remains proud of his effort despite the seafaring blockbuster hardly being worth the time, effort, and expense.
“I’m very proud of that movie, I stand up for it,” he admitted to Entertainment Weekly. “I know what the flaws of it are. I know exactly what they are. I went through a divorce at that time. It was a perfect storm of a lot of different situations, but I never gave up on the movie, and the movie has this life.”
There are a couple of solid set pieces and some impressive production design in Waterworld, but when the majority of the headlines in the run-up to its release were focused almost entirely on the eye-watering cost, the behind-the-scenes battles, and the unfortunate circumstances that included sets sinking and Reynolds quitting before post-production was completed due to his repeated disagreements with Costner, it had to make serious bank to avoid being tarred with a negative brush.
It didn’t, and the movie’s lasting reputation has little to do with what actually unfolded on-screen. Still, it’s decent enough mindless escapism, and something Costner continues to hold dear despite the nightmarish conditions.
