Kevin Costner’s post-apocalyptic action movie Waterworld is getting a continuation in the form of a streaming series.
Jungle Cruise producers John Davis and John Fox told Collider they are developing a sequel show to Waterworld set 20 years after the events of the film, with Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) attached to direct. “We’re not 100% sure on the approach to the show. But definitely, we’re in the building stages right now,” Fox said. He added the series is set up at Universal Television and “we think it already has a home,” suggesting it could stream on the NBCUniversal-owned Peacock.
Released in 1995, Waterworld takes place in a future where global warming leads to the melting of the polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise high enough to cover most of the Earth’s land and force humans to adapt to life on the ocean. Costner stars as The Mariner, a drifter who protects a girl holding the key to finding the only remaining dry land in the world from a group of pirates known as Smokers.
Waterworld drew mixed reviews upon hitting theaters, with critics applauding its massive practical sets and action sequences but dismissing its story and characters as flimsy rip-offs of those from the Mad Max films and similar pulpy B-movie classics. The most expensive film ever made at the time, Waterworld failed to cover its $175 million budget, grossing $264 million at the global box office. However, it ultimately turned a profit thanks to home video sales and rentals.
“The only movie that I went back recently, that we made and rewatched and I was surprised at how well it held up, is Waterworld,” Davis said. “For many, many years I didn’t really want to see it because I thought the movie didn’t work, it wasn’t what the script was, it was not as good as the script, it had its production problems. And then I went back and saw it again, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this movie ages great with time.'”
Fox said he and Davis are hoping to lock in a head writer/showrunner for the Waterworld sequel series “over the next couple of weeks.” In the meantime, the pair are collaborating with Trachtenberg on the Predator movie Skull, which is currently in production.
Source: Collider
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