Films whose theatrical release has been canceled, this unfortunately happens, for various reasons. But the example of “Empire of The Deep”, born from the overflowing imagination of a Chinese real estate magnate, is astounding…
The destiny of a cinematographic work is not always, far from it, a long calm river, paraphrasing a little easily the title of the film by Etienne Chatiliez.
The history of cinema is thus punctuated with examples of films which, for very diverse reasons, could not find their way to dark rooms: chaotic production, lawsuits, cruel encounters with the news de facto torpedoing the whole strategy marketing built around the work… There is no shortage of reasons.
And then there is the somewhat special, but bewildering, case of Empire of The Deep. Basically, it was the dream cherished by Jon Jiang, a wealthy Chinese real estate tycoon.
Captivated by James Cameron’s film Avatar and its use of 3D, why couldn’t we produce a film in China whose visual and narrative ambitions would be at least equivalent to Cameron’s standard meter, or even the Lord of the Rings saga by Peter Jackson, whom the real estate developer adores?
Provided, of course, that you have the means. And, on this side, Jiang is ready to put up to 130 million dollars on the table. Even if it means cherishing a dream, you might as well think big: the film should not only be intended for the Chinese market, but should shine in theaters all over the world.
Seeing himself as a screenwriter in his spare time, even writing fantasy and science fiction stories, Jiang has a wild imagination. Writing the story of Empire of The Deep himself, he believes he has enough material to make not one but downright three films.
Originally baptized Mermaid Islandthe story takes place in Ancient Greece, where a mermaid queen seeks to save her father and incidentally her underwater kingdom.
An international team
A fascinating article published by the atavist website recounted at length the absolutely chaotic behind-the-scenes of the film’s production. Supposed to be a Sino-American co-production, it must attract names that resonate internationally. Like that of Irvin Kershner, who is none other than the director of The Empire Strikes Back.
He feels that Jiang’s brainchild of a movie about an ancient mermaid kingdom won’t work for a wider Western audience. Instead, he offers Jiang a modern science fiction tale in which a group of individuals accidentally stumble upon an underwater kingdom. But Jiang turns down the idea, resulting in Kershner’s departure.
No less than four directors will succeed: Jonathan Lawrence, Michael French and Scott Miller, as well as the Frenchy Pitof. Right from the start, however, something was wrong, as Jonathan Lawrence said when he started shooting in January 2010.
The filmmaker is startled when he sees only 20 extras show up for the shooting of a scene, where 500 were planned. Russian extras, moreover, dressed in costumes unworthy of a cosplayer, and who are already complaining of not having been paid for weeks…
Zhejiang Golden Globe Pictures Co.
Several Western actresses are approached for the title role, including Monica Bellucci and Sharon Stone, before it is played by Olga Kurylenko, who had filmed with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace, and will be paid 1 million dollars. But the actress will not be able to do anything to save Empire of The Deep from complete drowning…
Filming begins even before the script is completed. A script that will be born in the greatest pain elsewhere, with no less than 40 different versions… A first 3D trailer is yet shown in April 2010 during a press conference in Beijing, with the actress.
In October 2012, new images appear, where the digital effects are noticeably better. But for visual effects that claimed to rise to the level of those of Avatar, it will be necessary to go back…
Desperately looking for distributor
In 2014, Jiang hired Steven Spielberg’s favorite editor, Michael Khan, to take care of his film. Desperate for a distributor in the United States, Jiang sees his hopes dashed soon after a mock projection in the offices of Sony Pictures in Los Angeles. Between unfinished special effects and a plot sewn with white threads, it’s a disaster. To the point that reshoots of certain scenes are scheduled urgently.
In January 2016, another trailer for the film, with better CGI, was released on a crowdfunding site. The producers then asked for 1 million Yuans (i.e. the equivalent of €126,800 today) to help complete the film, with a release date now set for April 2016. Needless to say, this call for crowdfunding did not never achieved its goal…
The results of the races: a project that painfully spanned almost six endless years, 130 million dollars gone up in smoke, no distributor, actors and actresses who left the ship in the middle because they never got paid…
And a film still invisible, probably condemned to remain in the abyss of cinema for eternity.