USA: RENNY HARLIN, GEENA DAVIS AND MATTHEW MODINE SPEAK ABOUT THEIR NEW PIRATE THRILLER 'CUTTHROAT ISLAND'

Record ID: 561833

  • Title: USA: RENNY HARLIN, GEENA DAVIS AND MATTHEW MODINE SPEAK ABOUT THEIR NEW PIRATE THRILLER 'CUTTHROAT ISLAND'
  • Date: 8th January 1995
  • Summary: (REUTERS TELEVISION) MODINE SAYING HE LIKED TO WATCH HARLIN SQUIRMING DURING THE LOVE SCENES HARLIN SAYING I WAS DEMANDING THAT HE KISS (DAVIS) LONGER MODINE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MOVIE WHERE THE DIRECTOR IS IN LOVE WITH HIS LEADING LADY AND TRYING TO GET INTO HER PANTS, IN THIS CASE HE SUCCEEDED AND THEY WERE PROBABLY SLEEPING TOGETHER ON A REGULAR BASIS HARLIN SAYING DOESN'T MATTER WHAT SCENE IT IS, I WANT THE SCENE TO BE GOOD AND EFFECTIVE, I HAD TO REMOVE MYSELF AS FROM MY POSITION AS A HUSBAND AND I'M DIRECTING AN ACTOR AND THAT'S IT
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 1995 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA5O13K4O7BYZ0Q7M02TRBMWB43
  • Story Text: The big-budget, swashbuckling pirate thriller "Cutthroat Island" opened in the United States on December 22 to a dismal critical and box office reception.

    Finnish director Renny Harlin's film, which stars his wife Geena Davis and Matthew Modine, cost 120 million United States Dollars (77 million pounds) to make yet only took 2.4 million dollars in its opening weekend.

    Davis plays Morgan Adams, the brave and beautiful daughter of a infamous pirate. Her father leaves her a portion of a coveted treasure map just before he's murdered, but she can't read it because it's in Latin.

    At a prison slave auction, she buys the handsome and educated William Shaw, played by Modine, to help her decipher the map.

    Together, they set out on her father's ship the Morning Star to find the treasure.

    Trying to stop them is her uncle, the man who murdered her father, the sinister pirate Dawg Brown. He's played by Frank Langella.

    Like that other watery epic, Kevin Costner's "Waterworld", "Cutthroat Isle" also had its share of production mishaps. The problems began when the initial choice for male lead, Michael Douglas, pulled out of the film to spend more time with his wife.

    Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves and Liam Neeson all declined the role, which was finally given to Modine. The producers threatened to cancel the project, but Harlin took out an advertisement in a trade newspaper promising that "Cutthroat Isle" would be a blockbuster like his past successes, "Cliffhanger" and "Die Hard 2".

    Italian technicians stopped work after one of their number was injured on the set. Davis fell ill during the shoot in Thailand.

    The notorious hard-drinking British actor, Oliver Reed, was fired after he offended the director and his wife by allegedly dropping his pants.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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