One of the biggest flops that Paramount Pictures was ever associated with. The plan was to start up a new series with an action hero in the manner of James Bond or Indiana Jones. What started out as a film with an 80 million dollar budget literally ended up costing $160 million dollars, not counting the $60 million dollars that was poured into marketing the film.
In addition, the author of the book the film was based on, Clive Cussler sued the production for failing to consult him on the script. As if his far fetched tale of a Civil War Confederate ship ending up in the middle of the Sahara desert was some type of documentary.
Apparently there were at some point 10 screenwriters who attempted to hammer the film's story into shape. In the end 4 writers, Jame V Hart, Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer and John C. Richards got screen credit.
How's the film? Well for an over produced mess it's entertaining. The leads Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz are a good looking couple. The photography is nice and the action elements are fairly well done. There are some attempts at humor which is probably a good thing since the filmmakers are telling a very tall tale.
Really not a bad time killer, but the major flop status of the film insured there would be no more sequels.
Running time 124 minutes.
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