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| Cutthroat Island | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Renny Harlin |
| Screenplay by | Robert KingMarc Norman |
| Story by | Michael Frost BecknerJames GormanBruce A. EvansRaynold Gideon |
| Produced by | Renny HarlinLaurence MarkJoel B. MichaelsJames Gorman |
| Starring | Geena DavisMatthew ModineFrank LangellaMaury ChaykinPatrick MalahideStan Shaw |
| Cinematography | Peter Levy |
| Edited by | Derek BrechinFlorent RetzFrank J. UriosteRalph E. Winters |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Production companies | Carolco Pictures Cutthroat Productions |
| Distributed by | MGM/UA Distribution Co. (United States) |
| Release date | December 22, 1995 (US)February 14, 1996 (France)April 25, 1996 (Germany) |
| Running time | 124 minutes |
| Countries | United States France Germany Italy |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $98 million |
| Box office | $10 million |
Cutthroat Island is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A. Evans, and Raymond Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella. The film is an international co-production among companies in the United States, France, Germany, and Italy.
The film had a notoriously troubled and chaotic production, involving multiple rewrites and recasts, and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the high production values, action sequences, shooting locations, and musical score, but panned the script, acting, and unrealistic stunts. It was one of the biggest box office bombs in history, having one of the highest losses when adjusted for inflation at $147 million. It even appeared in the Guinness World Records for being the biggest box-office bomb of all-time and led to the pirate genre’s demise at that point, until 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It was the final film from Carolco Pictures before its closure.
Production
Development
Phra Nang beach was one of the shooting locations
At the time the film was produced, Geena Davis and director Renny Harlin were married. Harlin convinced producer Mario Kassar to cast Davis, who was known for light comedies, in hopes that it would turn her into an action-adventure star. Carolco, already deeply in debt when the film entered pre-production, initially budgeted $60 million for Cutthroat Island and pinned its hopes for survival on the success of the film. To fund this endeavor, the cash-starved company cancelled its only other project under production, Crusade starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, losing $13 million in the process but freeing up additional money for Cutthroat Island. It also sold a $20 million interest in Paul Verhoeven‘s Showgirls, Last of the Dogmen, and Stargate, and aggressively marketed Cutthroat Island to overseas distributors, who were convinced to buy the distribution rights in their various countries with the promise that the film was a sure-fire hit.
Casting
Michael Douglas originally agreed to play Shaw under two conditions: filming had to start immediately because he was available only for a limited time, and his character had to have the same amount of screen time as Davis. Douglas eventually pulled out, claiming that Davis’s role was expanded at his character’s expense, while Davis wanted to quit when Douglas did, but was contractually obligated to finish the film.
After Douglas quit, Harlin was so preoccupied with trying to find a male lead that set construction and script work were done without his input. Consequently, Harlin did not like what he saw when shooting was set to begin, leading to expensive rebuilding and rewriting.
Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson, Jeff Bridges, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Sheen, Michael Keaton, Tim Robbins, Daniel Day-Lewis and Gabriel Byrne all turned down the role of Shaw before Modine agreed to do the role, partly due to his experience as a fencer.
Oliver Reed was originally cast for a cameo as Mordechai Fingers, but was fired after getting in a bar fight and attempting to expose himself to Davis while intoxicated. George Murcell eventually took his place.
Filming
Shooting was delayed for various reasons, allowing the budget to spiral out of control. When Harlin fired the chief camera operator following a dispute, more than two dozen crew members quit. In addition, broken pipes caused raw sewage to pour into the water tank where the actors were supposed to swim. Harlin spent $1 million of his own money to rewrite the script, as Carolco was in so much debt that they could not afford to pay further.
The first week into production, the film’s original cinematographer, Oliver Wood, fell off a crane and into one of the water tanks, breaking his leg; he had to be replaced by cinematographer Peter Levy.
The film was shot on location in Malta and Thailand. Indoor scenes were shot at Mediterranean Film Studios in Kalkara, Malta, and models were shot at the Paddock Tank at Pinewood Studios, in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. Harlin required actors to do their own stunts whenever possible. While promoting the film, Davis appeared on talk shows with clips of her doing stunts over and over (including one take where she fell out of a window too soon, rolled down the roof and under a carriage) and described the bruises and injuries she sustained while filming.
Music
The film’s orchestral score was composed by John Debney. It is one of the film’s aspects that has been critically acclaimed, compared with the classic works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Release
Box office
Cutthroat Island had a total production budget of $98 million (though some put the figure as high as $115 million) and the total U.S. gross was $10,017,322. In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. As well as making the Guinness World Record as the biggest box-office bomb of all-time. It debuted at No. 13 at the US box office.
Aftermath and legacy
In a radio interview in 2011, Harlin discussed the film’s box office failure. He pointed out that Carolco was in ruin before shooting even began, but had to make the film since financing from foreign investors was already in place. MGM, the film’s distributor, was in the process of being sold and thus could not devote itself into financing a marketing campaign for the film. Carolco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month before Cutthroat Island‘s release.
The failure of Cutthroat Island is also credited with significantly reducing the bankability and Hollywood production of pirate-themed films, which recovered only with the production of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003.
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