The fantasy epic Empires of the Deep never made it to the cinema, even though it was finished shooting. How could the mega-project, which was supposed to rival Avatar, fail?
Last year, Warner and HBO Max decided not to release the DC movie Batgirl due to cost. The film was completed, but fans will probably never see it. Throughout film history, expensive projects have failed at the last minute. Probably the biggest example of this kind: Empires of the Deep.
The supposed fantasy blockbuster started with big ideas, a budget in the millions and a star-studded cast. But years of effort ended in nothing.
Avatar as role model: What’s behind the Empires of the Deep project?
Chinese real estate tycoon Jon Jiang kicked off the film in 2007, according to Collider. Jiang had written the story for Empires of the Deep himself and was willing to invest several million US dollars in the production. The budget later rose to a reported 130 million.
Empires of the Deep
Rich Jiang was a fan of the blockbuster cinema of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, writes Vice . His dream: a fantasy trilogy that, like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, would thrill the whole world. In addition, Empires of the Deep was to bring the “best 3D” to the screens, as Avatar – Departure to Pandora by James Cameron did in 2009.
So the project was not lacking in ambition. But when it came to realising the vision, the film sank into chaos practically from day one.
Why Empires of the Deep was never released, even though there are even trailers
The crew began shooting without a finished script, which also had to be constantly revised. The conditions on the set were apparently gruelling. Among other things, there was a lack of food. Several actors left the production early because they were not paid.
Nevertheless, a first trailer was released in 2010 at a press conference in Beijing attended by stars Olga Kurylenko and Steve Polites. The press was instructed to wear 3D glasses at the screening.
In 2012, this trailer appeared on the internet announcing a 2013 release date:
As you can see, the level of special effects is rather weak. It was impossible to find a distributor in Hollywood who would release the film in cinemas. Reshoots and revisions of the effects took place until 2014. The male lead Steve Polites remained loyal to the project during this phase.
Attempts to get the film into cinemas after all stretched back to 2016, when a new trailer with better special effects appeared on a crowdfunding site. Seven years later, Empires of the Deep has made it neither to the cinema nor to a streaming platform.
What exactly has happened to the film since then is unknown. Apparently, none of the people involved are now interested in Empires of the Deep ever being shown to an audience. It will probably always remain submerged in the depths of the ocean of film history.
