Production on Waterworld was troubled from the start. It took so much steel to build it that extra materials had to be shipped from California to Hawaii after the Aloha State's reserves were exhausted. The floating atoll, where much of the film takes place, weighed 1000 tons and measured a quarter mile in circumference. The elaborate sets built on the ocean ate up a significant portion of the movie's budget. The final total came out to $175 million, breaking the previous record for costliest film ever produced by about $55 million. The original budget was set at $65 million, but thanks to the lavish, bloated production, that number rapidly increased. Waterworld was the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release.īefore it was first screened to the public, Waterworld had already gained a notorious reputation for being the most expensive film of all time. The rift marked the end of the team’s professional relationship for a while, but they reunited for the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. Costner was apparently so hard to please that Reynolds reportedly quit as they were finishing production on the movie and let Costner finish the film on his own. (Costner produced but didn’t star in the latter.) During their fourth collaboration, the pair often butted heads over the creative direction of the film. Star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds worked on three films together prior to Waterworld: Fandango (1985), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Rapa Nui (1994). Waterworld marked Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds's fourth collaboration.

The script’s original writer Peter Rader said the idea for Waterworld was conceived as a Mad Max rip-off in 1986 following the success of 1981’s Road Warrior. Waterworld still gets compared to Mad Max today, and the similarities aren’t a coincidence. Waterworld differs from the Mad Max series in some major ways (while Waterworld’s setting is an endless sea, most Mad Max movies take place in the desert), but they both imagine a primitive, violent future.

Sixteen years before the premiere of Waterworld, George Miller launched an action franchise set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The Waterworld script was inspired by Mad Max. Whether you love it or love to hate it, here are some facts about Waterworld in honor of the guilty pleasure movie's 25th anniversary.

That, plus the troubled, chaotic production, added up to an inflated budget that overshadowed the movie’s critical and commercial reception. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where melting polar ice caps have flooded the world, the 1995 film starring Kevin Costner features a unique setting that was incredibly expensive to shoot. Waterworld isn’t remembered for having the best acting or the most coherent screenplay, but it’s still memorable.

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