10 Woefully Troubled Film Shoots That Derailed Major Movies
5. Waterworld Almost Killed Kevin Costner
Waterworlds original estimated cost of $100 million was already the biggest ever Hollywood budget at the time. But by the time its production woes had taken their toll, the Kevin Costner movie ended up costing $175 million. So, what went wrong? Well, the logistics of the production certainly didnt help. According to Costner, the amount of ferrying needed to get cast and extras from the basecamp onto the floating atoll where shooting took place was crazy. This, presumably, began to eat up cash as shooting dragged on. Additionally, the films female lead Jeanne Tripplehorn and young actress Tina Majorina were both aboard a sailboat that snapped in half, and divers were sent in to rescue them. Costner also had a close call himself, tied to a mast for an important shot when a big storm rolled in. I nearly died, he commented. The script also needed tweaking, so Joss Whedon was flown in. He later described his time on set as seven weeks of hell. He was being told what to write by Costner and by the studio executives, leading Whedon to dub himself the worlds highest-paid stenographer rather than an actual writer. The film eventually made back its money worldwide, but received one hell of a lashing from the critics.
