SOLDIER (1998) - the story of failure
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5 ماه پیش
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Kurt Russell is one of the unluckiest actors of the 1980s. Kurt Russell had a reputation as a box office bomber, so whenever he was cast in a film, analysts would immediately forecast its failure. Perhaps the only reason he didn't disappear into direct-to-video obscurity was that many of his failed projects later became genre classics and cult favorites.
Everything changed in the early 1990s. No, some of Kurt's films continued to fail, but there were some that made a decent profit. As a result, the actor’s fees also began to grow, reaching their peak with the films “Breakdown” and "Soldier.” His roles in these two films earned Kurt $15 million and $20 million, respectively. Both projects failed. However, “Breakdown” probably ended up making a profit from media and TV sales. As for "Soldier," the failure was so bad that it ruined Kurt Russell's thriving career. Furthermore, the film's director, PAUL W. S. ANDERSON, had to resort to making trashy TV shows until he got the chance to return to Hollywood with a small film called "Resident Evil."
Although “Soldier” hit theaters in 1998, its story began back in 1981 on the set of “Blade Runner,” where screenwriter David Webb Peoples first came up with the idea for the project. In the 1980s, Peoples’ script sparked a lot of interest and even caught the attention of Clint Eastwood. However, Eastwood knew that he was too old to play a soldier, even for a science-fiction film, and thus considered the director’s position. Eastwood's plans fell through due to funding issues. In 1984, the film was estimated to cost $40 million. At the time, it was a budget comparable to that of a major blockbuster, one that even George Lucas' “Star Wars” could envy. After “Blade Runner” failed at the box office, Warner Brothers hesitated to fund another gritty sci-fi movie, and Eastwood had to leave.
The next person to show interest in “Soldier” was Sylvester Stallone. Considering that Sly was already a big star, he probably had the best chance of getting "Soldier" into production. But, when he was promoting the project at the studio with the director of the first "Rambo," Ted Kotcheff, Sly, as was often the case with him, went overboard with his demands for the size of his fee. The exact amount he requested remains unknown. Given that Sly was paid $10-12 million for his roles at the time, it's likely he expected a similar pay for "Soldier." Therefore, the project was put on hold again.
Warner resumed work on it in the early 1990s, this time with Keanu Reeves set to play the lead. However, the actor had only two films under his belt at the time: "Bill & Ted" and "Point Break," which had just come out. When the film's estimated budget approached $60 million, the studio panicked and halted production once more.
The next time "Soldier" made headlines was in 1996, when Kurt Russell expressed interest in the project. Russell had recently starred in Warner's "Executive Decision," which, despite not being a huge success, was able to recoup its budget. With a famous actor on board, the studio decided to take a risk and invested $60 million in the film.
As unfortunate as it is, Kurt Russell played a large role in the film's disastrous box office performance. Because of him, the studio had to postpone filming for a whole year. And it wasn’t that the actor had a busy schedule. Kurt Russell simply decided to get in shape at the age of 47, which took him a full year.
Director Paul Anderson never criticized the actor's decision. Especially given that Kurt Russell supported him in all his interviews, blaming the failure of his previous film "Event Horizon" on solar storms and things like that. However, the director was never satisfied with the way "Soldier" turned out. According to him, he and screenwriter David Webb Peoples originally planned to make a space western set in vast open environments, but filming had to be delayed until Russell could bulk up. That's when Paul Anderson directed the disastrous “Event Horizon.” Perhaps Kurt Russell simply felt guilty about it and thus constantly defended the film.
According to the director, when they returned to film “Soldier” a year later, they discovered that they would not be able to use the locations they had reserved for filming due to the El Niño hurricane. Because of the tight deadlines, they were forced to shoot inside a studio, which greatly reduced the film's scale and negatively affected its entire look.
The filmmakers envisioned "Soldier" as much more than just another science fiction action film. In many of his interviews, the director said that he and the screenwriter planned to make a sequel to “Soldier” that would bring together Kurt Russell's character with Harrison Ford’s character from “Blade Runner.” To do this, they filled "Soldier" with a bunch of references to Ridley Scott's sci-fi film.
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Kurt Russell is one of the unluckiest actors of the 1980s. Kurt Russell had a reputation as a box office bomber, so whenever he was cast in a film, analysts would immediately forecast its failure. Perhaps the only reason he didn't disappear into direct-to-video obscurity was that many of his failed projects later became genre classics and cult favorites.
Everything changed in the early 1990s. No, some of Kurt's films continued to fail, but there were some that made a decent profit. As a result, the actor’s fees also began to grow, reaching their peak with the films “Breakdown” and "Soldier.” His roles in these two films earned Kurt $15 million and $20 million, respectively. Both projects failed. However, “Breakdown” probably ended up making a profit from media and TV sales. As for "Soldier," the failure was so bad that it ruined Kurt Russell's thriving career. Furthermore, the film's director, PAUL W. S. ANDERSON, had to resort to making trashy TV shows until he got the chance to return to Hollywood with a small film called "Resident Evil."
Although “Soldier” hit theaters in 1998, its story began back in 1981 on the set of “Blade Runner,” where screenwriter David Webb Peoples first came up with the idea for the project. In the 1980s, Peoples’ script sparked a lot of interest and even caught the attention of Clint Eastwood. However, Eastwood knew that he was too old to play a soldier, even for a science-fiction film, and thus considered the director’s position. Eastwood's plans fell through due to funding issues. In 1984, the film was estimated to cost $40 million. At the time, it was a budget comparable to that of a major blockbuster, one that even George Lucas' “Star Wars” could envy. After “Blade Runner” failed at the box office, Warner Brothers hesitated to fund another gritty sci-fi movie, and Eastwood had to leave.
The next person to show interest in “Soldier” was Sylvester Stallone. Considering that Sly was already a big star, he probably had the best chance of getting "Soldier" into production. But, when he was promoting the project at the studio with the director of the first "Rambo," Ted Kotcheff, Sly, as was often the case with him, went overboard with his demands for the size of his fee. The exact amount he requested remains unknown. Given that Sly was paid $10-12 million for his roles at the time, it's likely he expected a similar pay for "Soldier." Therefore, the project was put on hold again.
Warner resumed work on it in the early 1990s, this time with Keanu Reeves set to play the lead. However, the actor had only two films under his belt at the time: "Bill & Ted" and "Point Break," which had just come out. When the film's estimated budget approached $60 million, the studio panicked and halted production once more.
The next time "Soldier" made headlines was in 1996, when Kurt Russell expressed interest in the project. Russell had recently starred in Warner's "Executive Decision," which, despite not being a huge success, was able to recoup its budget. With a famous actor on board, the studio decided to take a risk and invested $60 million in the film.
As unfortunate as it is, Kurt Russell played a large role in the film's disastrous box office performance. Because of him, the studio had to postpone filming for a whole year. And it wasn’t that the actor had a busy schedule. Kurt Russell simply decided to get in shape at the age of 47, which took him a full year.
Director Paul Anderson never criticized the actor's decision. Especially given that Kurt Russell supported him in all his interviews, blaming the failure of his previous film "Event Horizon" on solar storms and things like that. However, the director was never satisfied with the way "Soldier" turned out. According to him, he and screenwriter David Webb Peoples originally planned to make a space western set in vast open environments, but filming had to be delayed until Russell could bulk up. That's when Paul Anderson directed the disastrous “Event Horizon.” Perhaps Kurt Russell simply felt guilty about it and thus constantly defended the film.
According to the director, when they returned to film “Soldier” a year later, they discovered that they would not be able to use the locations they had reserved for filming due to the El Niño hurricane. Because of the tight deadlines, they were forced to shoot inside a studio, which greatly reduced the film's scale and negatively affected its entire look.
The filmmakers envisioned "Soldier" as much more than just another science fiction action film. In many of his interviews, the director said that he and the screenwriter planned to make a sequel to “Soldier” that would bring together Kurt Russell's character with Harrison Ford’s character from “Blade Runner.” To do this, they filled "Soldier" with a bunch of references to Ridley Scott's sci-fi film.
5 ماه پیش
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