There was a notorious dip- Waterworld- in Kevin Costner’s cinematic thrills of The Untouchables and Dances With Wolves. The 1995 megabudget mess, costing a staggering $170M, barely floated at $264M. Ouch.
Here’s the twist: Costner was offered a shot at playing Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption. Yep, the same movie that’s now an all-time classic with a 9.3 IMDb rating. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman made magic, but Costner? He chose to dive into Waterworld instead.
But wait, it gets wilder. Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, and Charlie Sheen were all in the mix for Dufresne, with Tom Hanks choosing Forrest Gump over Shawshank (talk about winning the lottery). Costner’s call to bet on Waterworld instead of this prison epic? Definitely one for the Hollywood Hall of Regrets.
So while Costner’s Waterworld might have sunk, The Shawshank Redemption soared to legendary status. Now that’s a major plot twist in Tinseltown’s epic saga.
Box Office Showdown: Shawshank Redemption vs. Waterworld – The Classic vs. The Gamble
The Shawshank Redemption’s basically the Beyoncé of movies—timeless and legendary. With Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, it was made for $25M but only raked in $28.8M in North America and $29.3M worldwide. It was like a hidden gem that took its sweet time to say, “Hey, I’m amazing!”
On the other hand, Waterworld makes a splashy entrance. This epic adventure, which starred Kevin Costner and whose duties also included producing, was released in 1995. The picture was expected to set a new record for the most expensive of its kind with a whopping $170M. Considering its budget, it was more like swimming than generating waves, yet it did manage to float to $264M internationally.
Allow us to explain: While Waterworld was a risky, big-budget attempt that ultimately failed, The Shawshank Redemption has matured into a true classic despite a sluggish start. While one offers a story of second chances and redemption, the other shows that no amount of money can turn around a ship that is in danger of sinking.
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