Don't Call Waterworld A Box Office Bomb Around Kevin Costner
Even the greatest actors in the world star in bad movies sometimes. (They can't all be home runs!) So many things can go wrong (or change) from when the actor reads a script and agrees to star in the movie to the movie's finished product. Financial limitations can make it tough to turn down a job — especially in this economy! "As an actor, all bets are off if you need money," George Clooney once quipped at the 2012 Newsweek Oscars roundtable. "I've done really crappy movies or crappy jobs when I was broke," he continued. "People go, 'Why did you do 'Return of the Killer Tomatoes?' Because I got the job!"
The film industry is an unpredictable business. Sometimes actors have fun trashing their past projects like when Sylvester Stallone dissed his failed comedy film "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!" The "Rocky" star did not pull any punches in 2010, saying: "If you ever want someone to confess to murder, just make him or her sit through that film. They will confess to anything after 15 minutes" (via The Telegraph).
However, some actors stand by their flops. They worked hard on that movie and still believe in its vision. Sure, they're not perfect, but they're theirs! Kevin Costner is one of those actors. And, yes, he still loves "Waterworld."
Defending Waterworld's honor
"Waterworld," Kevin Reynolds' 1995 post-apocalyptic film, is often referred to as one of the biggest box-office bombs in Hollywood history. Mostly, this is due to the film's astronomical cost. Despite having a budget of $100 million, the nightmare production of "Waterworld" cost $175 million.
Additionally, critics panned the movie. But Kevin Costner has always defended the film's honor in interviews. When the Huffington Post asked him about the constant insults hurled at the movie in 2013, Costner was frank. "Yeah, I've probably said it ad nauseum, but people don't give a sh**, so it doesn't really matter. It just is what it is. But it stands up as a really exotic, cool movie. It was flawed — for sure. But, overall, it's a very inventive, cool movie. It's pretty robust."
Costner has even messaged individual movie bloggers to spread his gospel. "I'm not sure you know how beloved the movie is around the world," Costner said in a message to Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere blog. "Being hard on a film is really easy if you don't know the underbelly of what went into it" (via The Guardian).
At this point, one has to admire Costner's loyalty to "Waterworld." Or maybe we should feel bad for a man clearly in denial? After all, Costner has had questionable film ideas in the past. Regardless, if you plan on trash-talking "Waterworld" any time soon, remember to make sure Kevin Costner isn't within earshot.