How ‘Cutthroat Island’ Cost — Then Lost — a Fortune, Sank Carolco Pictures and Sent Renny Harlin and Geena Davis Into Perilous Straits (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comAlex Ritman Hollywood’s most notable bombs are — sadly — just as well-known as its biggest hits, a factor that a new book joyously celebrates.
From British film critic Tim Robey, “Box Office Poison” digs up the dirt on some of cinema’s wildest misfires, from grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, going behind the scenes to examine how they ended careers, bankrupted studios and changed film history.
Among the features in Robey’s crosshairs are David Lynch’s “Dune,” plus “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” “Gigli,” “Catwoman,” “Pan” and — of course — “Cats.” In this exclusive extract from the book, being released by Hanover Square Press in the U.S.
on Nov. 5, it’s the turn of the swashbuckling catastrophe that was Renny Harlin and Geana Davis’ “Cutthroat Island.” Costing upwards of $115 million to make, the watery flop sank almost without a trace in 1995, earning just $18.5 million globally and dragging a once hit-making production company down into the depths with it. Read the excerpt from “Box Office Poison” below.
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