Cutthroat Island: 10 Behind The Scenes Facts

From Battlefield Earth to The Bonfire of The Vanities, Hollywood has suffered some horrendous flops, however, 1995’s Cutthroat Island bombed so bad that this swashbuckling pirate movie sank an entire movie studio, Carolco Pictures, and ruined the reputations and careers for many involved.

The cause of Cutthroat Island’s failure is rooted in excess, ego, and hope for success in a genre from a bygone era. The production has become a Hollywood legend, featuring stories of recasting, over-spending, and a disastrous shoot on the water. The production company, Carolco pictures, needed desperately for the movie to be a hit and they put all they had into it. Ultimately, Cutthroat Island flopped, and what was a dying studio’s last hope became the nail in its coffin.

10 Excessive Studio Spending

In the late 80s and early 90s, Carolco Pictures was making hit after hit with movies like Terminator 2,Basic Instinct, and Total Recall. Funded by money gained from successful movies like the Rambo sequels, Carolco offered stars more money in order to compete with other major studios. Thus, Carolco became known for excessive spending on private jets, parties, and limos.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger signed on to Terminator 2, not only was he paid $14 million, but he was given a $17 million private jet. Essentially, the studio was spending more than they were taking in.

9 The Last Hope

With excessive spending and costs rising, Carolco needed a sure-fire hit to bail them out of potential bankruptcy and they felt their best chance was a pirate movie called Cutthroat Island. So, they canceled a Paul Verhoeven-directed movie called Crusade starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, after Verhoeven couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t go over budget.

By not doing Crusade, Carolco shifted money to Cutthroat Island, increasing the budget from $60 million to $100 million. Also, overseas distributors paid Carolco a lot of money in distribution rights having been promised that the movie was going to be a huge hit. With overseas money invested, there was no turning back now.

8 Husband and Wife Team

Renny Harlin directed Cutthroat Island and it starred his then-wife Geena Davis. Renny Harlin had garnered acclaim from directing action movies like Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, and was given free rein on the movie.

Geena Davis had won an Oscar and recently starred in hits like A League of Their Own and Thelma & Louise, but was not known for action. However, Harlin convinced the head of Carolco to cast Davis in an attempt to help her branch out into action movies.

7 Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas was originally cast as co-lead William Shaw opposite Davis’ Morgan Adams, however, despite always wanting to do a movie like Cutthroat Island, he departed due to two reasons.

Michael Douglas didn’t have adequate time to prepare for Cutthroat Island after finishing his previous movie. He would’ve had to take fencing lessons and prep for a shoot that required him to be in almost every scene. He also claimed that producers were expanding Geena Davis’ role at his expense and Matthew Modine, who was not known for action either but was an experienced fencer, was cast instead.

6 Harlin Begged To Be Fired

Renny Harlin claimed to have seen the film being a disaster coming. He knew that Carolco was on the verge of bankruptcy and their distributor, MGM, was in the process of being sold which meant that the Christmas-scheduled movie probably wouldn’t get the proper marketing push.

Now that Michael Douglas was gone, Harlin and Davis asked to be let go but Carolco denied their requests due to contractual obligations. They both felt having a female as the lead of a pirate movie might not go over well, so they were both scared. Harlin even paid another writer a million dollars of his own money to rewrite the script, which had been originally centered around Michael Douglas’ character.

5 Disastrous Shoot

While occupied with desperately finding a new male lead, Harlin couldn’t give input on the sets, thus requiring them to be rebuilt at great cost. Some of the production’s other issues were an injured cinematographer who was then replaced, over two dozen crew members quitting after Harlin fired the chief camera operator, the cast and crew falling ill, and million-dollar wooden pirate-ship sets catching fire.

Also, pipes broke allowing raw sewage to flow into water tanks the actors were using to film some sequences. Harlin also requested the actors to do their own stunts which resulted in his own wife coming away with bruises and injuries.

4 A Surprising Favorite

Not everything about Cutthroat Island is bad, though. One of its high points is Frank Langella as the villain, Douglas “Dawg” Brown. Langella has said that along with Skeletor from Masters of The Universe, Cutthroat Island ranks as one of his favorite roles.

Despite that most involved would probably want to forget Cutthroat Island, Langella claims he loved playing the character due to the ability to portray an over-the-top villain.

3 Killed The Pirate Genre

There was a time when the Pirate genre was very popular among moviegoers, especially in the 1940s and 50s with releases like The Crimson Pirate and Treasure Island, however, popularity waned towards the end of the century. Like the Western genre, audiences lost interest in these very expensive productions so Hollywood began to make less and less.

When the movie bombed, it was the nail in the coffin for pirate movies until, despite being reminded of Cutthroat Island’s failure, Disney produced 2003’s Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. While that film didn’t exactly resurrect the genre, it and its sequels were massive box office hits.

2 Ruined Careers

Following Cutthroat Island’s release, the movie left a stain on all involved. Matthew Modine’s performance got poor reviews and he never headlined a major movie again. The following year, Geena Davis and Renny Harlin made a fantastic-yet-underrated movie together called The Long Kiss Goodnight. However, it bombed at the box-office too, which many attributed to the bad taste left by Cutthroat Island and, yet again, sexism aimed at a woman headlining an action movie.

Geena Davis found some success on television but never headlined a major release again either. Renny Harlin directed mildly successful films like Deep Blue Sea and Driven, but he was never able to resurrect his career. The couple divorced in 1998.

1 Box-Office Bomb

Ultimately, when released, Cutthroat Island received negative reviews from critics and debuted at 13 at the box-office, lasting just two weeks in theatres. On a $100 million dollar budget, it grossed $10 million. Adjusted for inflation the losses equal $150 to $200 million dollars, and the Guinness Book of World Records listed it as the biggest flop of all time.

One month before Cutthroat Island’s release and two months after the release of their other flop, Showgirls, Carolco pictures filed for bankruptcy, sold off its film library, and closed its doors for good.

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