In 2007, Chinese billionaire realtor Jon Jiang had a vision – to use his enormous wealth and make a film that would rival the biggest epics made by the top Hollywood studios. In this endeavour, he began recruiting some of the top minds from Hollywood. But alas, as time passed, his glorious vision did not come to fruition. The end result was most expensive film never released. It cost Jiang $130 million and was never seen by anyone. (Also read: Made for $32 million, world’s biggest box office bomb earned just $918; director disowned it, no OTT platform bought it)
The most expensive film that was never released
Originally titled Mermaid Island, this US-Chinese co-production was later renamed Empires of the Deep. Since Jiang wanted the film to rival the best of James Cameron (Avatar), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), and George Lucas (Star Wars), he recruited James Cameron’s associate Randall Frakes to write the script. The screenwriting alone took four years with ten writers developing 40 drafts. Only then could the shoot begin. The film was about warring tribes of mermen and was supposed to be shot entirely underwater.
The casting proved to be a bigger hurdle. The makers wanted Monica Bellucci to play the lead as the Mermaid Queen, but she dropped out. Sharon Stone entered the negotiations, but never signed. Eventually, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko came on board, earning her first $1-million paycheck. The film was mounted on a budget of $130 million, with Irvin Kershner attached to direct. After disagreements with Jiang, both Kershner and Frakes left the project, though. French filmmaker Pitof, known for Catwoman, was hired but also dropped out soon. Jonathan Lawrence eventually came on board, and the filming began.
When director and crew quit
By 2009, Lawrence was fed up with the direction the film was going, and he, too, left. Michael French, a first-time filmmaker, signed on to replace him. He shot scenes twice, once as per his vision and the second time as per Jiang’s vision. This led to long delays in the shoot. In 2010, the film’s release was announced with a half-made trailer. The backlash to this and the non-payment of the crew’s salaries meant that the director and the crew left the project.
Jiang again revived the film under director Scott Miller. By now, even actors were leaving the sinking ship. Maxx Maulion, who played the protagonist’s sidekick, left without filming all his scenes in 2011.
The delay in release
Jiang planned a release in 2013 after finishing the film with replacement actors. He wanted the film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but that never materialised. Spielberg‘s frequent collaborator, Michael Kahn, was hired the following year to edit the film. This led to a better-looking trailer in 2016. However, the producer felt more money was needed to reshoot some portions. That money never came, and the project was put on the back burner.
Empires of the Deep was never finished and hence never made available for home video or digital streaming. This means that to date, it remains the most expensive film never seen by the audience.