In the late 1980s, there were two franchises that had it all: star Wars And the alien. the product Gary Kurtz He worked with George Lucas on the first epic, but after a bit of frustration he went his own way and made a sci-fi movie starring him Mark Hamill and Bill Paxton, the two most famous faces of the time. It had good ingredients, but it ended up being a disaster that eventually bankrupted Kurtz. Here is his sad story.
Gary Kurtz and His Damned Project
Gary Kurtz is a producer with a short but intense career in Hollywood. Started with George Lucas American Graffiti (1973) and accompanied him for the first two parts of star Wars : New hope And the The empire strikes. But this successful duo broke up after 1980 due to creative differences regarding the Hungarian epic. Subsequently, Gary Kurtz produced dark crystal (1982), a fantastic Frank Oz gem; And the Oz, an extraordinary world (1985), the unofficial sequel to Wizard of Oz which, despite a poor box office reception, received mixed reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects.
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For this reason, when he embarked on the project The fan stream, the breath of the futurewith director Steven Lisberger, who just directed it You see (1982) – an important science fiction film of the 1980s – and stars star Wars And the alienMark Hamill and Bill Paxton, everything seemed to indicate it was going to be a huge blockbuster, but there was a huge snag.
There is little information about the problems that turned a production with great potential into a failed project. Producer Gary Kurtz was reportedly in the middle of divorce proceedings during filming, and when he lost his case he faced a significant loss of money. Likewise, he has earned his income from movies star Warsthat were used to finance this movie. Therefore, it would seem that they did not have many resources, and based on the final result, they succeeded as best they could.
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At the end of filming, Gary Kurtz was broke and never really did anything noteworthy after that. His next project is The thief and the shoemakerAn animated film, the production of which is full of delays and difficulties, deserves a separate topic.
The film went unnoticed at the box office
The movie looked so bad that the producer didn’t want it to see the light. It had a very limited release in the UK and Australia, grossing just $66,000. In the US, it was not even released theatrically and was released straight to VHS. There’s no indication of the blockbuster it was meant to be, and it’s more of a made-to-video movie.
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The movie plunges us into the near future where pollution is ravaging the Earth. The resulting earthquakes and floods forced the community to seek refuge in the canyons, where they lived in communities. At the same time, a strong wind known as the propeller current is blowing over the planet and forcing people to travel only by plane. Bill Paxton plays a headstrong, reckless, adventurous bounty hunter – doesn’t that sound like someone star Wars ? – Who kidnaps a fugitive accused of murder. While claiming the reward, they are pursued by security guards and a very close relationship is born from their escape.
Many people think that this same script in other hands would have worked very well and even suggest doing it again today. Curtis himself claims that the original script was more violent, but these scenes, which would have made the film more cohesive, were never shot.
This article was written in collaboration with our colleagues from Sensacin.
