20 Things You Didn't Know About Waterworld
17. It Was Originally Pitched As A Children's Action-Adventure Film
Difficult though this might be to believe, Waterworld was originally penned by Peter Rader as a family-friendly action-adventure film, with Rader actually intending to direct it himself.
Rader's film was mounted to be a Mad Max rip-off with more accessibility to a wider audience.
As such, the Mariner (Costner) was a regular human rather than a mutant, Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) had two extra children to increase the movie's youthful presence, and the Deacon was a much sillier, campier villain who slapped his incompetent minions around with a wet fish. Seriously (or not, actually).
It wasn't until rewrites were undertaken, mostly by The Fugitive writer David Twohy, that Waterworld become a far more serious-minded project.