The most expensive movie prop ever created
In an ideal world, making a movie would cost about as much as the price of a meal deal, with the production and editing process taking mere minutes, meaning no hefty costs would have to be put towards wages. Alas, this is mere fantasy, with the reality being that each and every film takes months, if not years, of dedication as well as one’s own life savings, as well as whatever one can manage to scrape together on loan from the bank.
But, aside from wages needed to pay the lighting experts, editors, cinematographers, caterers, costume designers and more, where else does the money go? Well, one somewhat overlooked expense is the cost of props, after all, if you’re looking to make a blockbuster action flick, you’ll need a dozen sports cars, countless replica guns, and a couple of motorbikes, and that’s before you’ve even considered the pyrotechnics.
But, what’s the most amount of money a production has paid for one single prop? Well, to answer this question we have to go all the way back to 1986 when the controversial French-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski released his lesser-known 1986 film Pirates, a movie that followed the adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate named Frog, starring the likes of Walter Matthau, Cris Campion and Damien Thomas.
Having taken a hiatus from filmmaking following the release of Tess in 1979, Polanski’s return to the silver screen seven years later was met with poor reviews across the board.
Yet, there was one thing about the movie that was truly unforgettable – the full-scale replica of a Spanish Galleon which was used several times throughout the movie. Remarkably, this one prop cost a total of $10,271,100, which translates into approximately £7million for all your British folk, a staggering amount to pay for one single prop, especially with no swords, bandannas, hats and toy parrots included as part of the fee.
Wanting to make the film as a lighthearted alternative to his usually serious movies, Polanksi originally wanted Jack Nicholson to take on the lead role in the film, but when the actor demanded vast amounts of money for the part, production was significantly delayed. This was made far worse when the director was arrested in California in 1977 on charges of rape, with the disgraced filmmaker fleeing the United States as a result.
Discovering that his film could no longer be made in the US due to his legal issues, Polanski told The New York Times: “The people who finance films don’t care what your personal problems are, your image, whatever. They’re interested in figures. They look them up the same way an insurance company does. And they know that if they spend $5 million or $6 million, $10 million on a film by me, their risk is quite limited. But once you have a subject complicated, more ambitious, like Pirates, even if you have a delightful script and great enthusiasm, even if you promise them heaven, they are afraid”.
Continuing, he added: “That has nothing to do with my legal problems in America. What do they care for it? Do you think that they have a moral streak in them, that they really hesitate?”
Take a look at the film’s trailer below.
