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Christopher Columbus: The Discovery

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For the Columbus discovery of the Americas, see Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed byJohn Glen
Screenplay byJohn Briley
Cary Bates
Mario Puzo
Story byMario Puzo
Produced byAlexander Salkind
Ilya Salkind[1]
Starring
CinematographyAlec Mills
Edited byMatthew Glen
Music byCliff Eidelman
Production
companies
Christopher Columbus Productions
Quinto Centenario
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
  • 21 August 1992 (1992-08-21) (U.S.)
  • 11 September 1992 (1992-09-11) (UK)
  • 18 September 1992 (1992-09-18) (Spain)
Running time
120 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
Spain
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[2]
Box office$8.6 million (US/UK)

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery is a 1992 historical adventure film directed by John Glen. It was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The film follows events after the fall of the Emirate of Granada (an Arab principality which was located in the south of Spain), and leads up to the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492.

Its behind-the-scenes history involved an elaborate series of financial mishaps, which later brought about an emotional falling-out between Alexander and Ilya; as a frustrated Alexander would later lament in a November 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times, "I know, after this, that I'll never make movies again."[3]

The film was released for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage.[4][5] The premiere took place at almost exactly the same time as 1492: Conquest of Paradise, which has often led to confusion between the two films.

Plot

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The titular Genoese navigator overcomes intrigue in the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and gains financing for his expedition to the West Indies, which eventually leads to the European discovery of the Americas.

Cast

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Production

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The initial director George P. Cosmatos left the production due to "creative differences",[6] with Cosmatos later suing the producers for millions with the matter settled out-of-court.[7] Cosmatos was then replaced by John Glen shortly before shooting began.[7] At one point during the production, the $42 million budget was being slashed with the producers considering scrapping the theatrical approach in favor of a TV miniseries. However, this was alleviated when Ilya Salkind was able to secure a budget of $50 million.[7]

Casting

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Marlon Brando received $5 million for the film, and his name remains in the credits despite his request that it be removed.[6] Following Cosmatos' departure as director, actors Timothy Dalton and Isabella Rossellini soon followed suit with Dalton later filing a lawsuit against the producers for breach of contract and fraud, stating that they did not provide a bank guarantee for his $2.5 million salary.[8][6][7]

Reception

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The film was not a commercial success, debuting at number 4 at the US box office[9][10] and grossing $8.3 million in the United States and Canada.[11] It grossed $500,000 in the United Kingdom.[12]

The film received mostly negative reviews, with a rotten 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews, with the website's critical consensus reading "Ironically, for a biopic about a voyage many associate with people accepting that the world is round, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery falls completely flat."[13] Brando's performance in particular was singled out as his "worst" by critic Paul Brenner of ArtistDirect.[14]

Roger Ebert agreed with this sentiment while giving the movie one out of four stars, stating "This movie takes one of history's great stories and treats it in such a lackluster manner that Columbus's voyage seems as endless to us as it did to his crew."[15] It is also on his "Most Hated" list.[16]

Film historian Leonard Maltin declared the picture a "BOMB" (he gave 1492: Conquest of Paradise an only-slightly better rating, and conveyed his sentiments with this variation on the popular rhyme: "In nineteen-hundred-and-ninety-two, Columbus sailed two screen boo-boos.")...adding that the movie was hardly ripe for re-discovery, and lamenting "Is this any way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Europe's finding America?"[17] Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times said "it's not politically correct. It's also not cinematically correct, humanly correct or historically correct. With one possible exception: The reconstructed versions of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria look pretty correct—more so at least than the actors who sail them."[18] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the picture "expensive, sloppy and, at its most ambitious, a frail reminder of the Warner Brothers swashbucklers that Michael Curtiz used to turn out with Errol Flynn."[19] A Newsweek reviewer called the film a "characterless movie that seems to have been made for no better reason than the marketing ploy of a 500th anniversary."[20]

Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "C" on scale of A+ to F.[21]

Lawsuits

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Director Ridley Scott had considered making a Christopher Columbus movie for the Salkinds but instead opted to direct a rival project from producer Alain Goldman and written by Roselyne Bosch: 1492: Conquest of Paradise.[22] The Salkinds filed a lawsuit against Scott, alleging that the director stole ideas from their project.[22] $40 million in damages were sought, in addition to a ruling barring Scott from proceeding with the Goldman-backed film.[22] Throughout November 1990, various contemporary sources pointed out that the scripts for the two projects were rumored to be quite different: Scott's "biopic" would survey twenty-three years of Columbus's life, while Salkind's "adventure-epic" would focus on the singular event of discovering the Americas in 1492.[22] Six months after filing the lawsuit against Scott, the Salkinds decided to abandon it.[22] Goldman and Salkind acknowledged that releasing two films on the same subject at approximately the same time could split audiences and box office returns, but with both "Columbus" pictures angling for a release date to coincide with the 500-year anniversary, the conflict seemed unavoidable.[22]

In September 1994, producer Ilya Salkind, along with Ilya's wife and the film's executive producer Jane Chaplin, sued Alexander Salkind, co-producer Bob Simmonds, and other creditors for $10 million.[6]

Awards

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Tom Selleck won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. Marlon Brando was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor and the film received another four Golden Raspberry Award nominations including; Worst Picture, Worst Director – John Glen, Worst New Star – Georges Corraface and Worst Screenplay – Mario Puzo.[23] At the 1992 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, it received a nomination for Worst Picture.

Home media

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The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc formats from Warner Home Video in 1993. It has not been released on DVD in North America, but is available in other format regions on DVD.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Columbus: A Filmmaker's Odyssey". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  2. ^ "EPIC '1492' FILM CAPTURES ENERGY OF EXPLORER'S TIMES BEDEVILED VISIONARY Series: DISCOVERING COLUMBUS: 1492 – Second of Three Parts". Morning Call. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  3. ^ Brennan, Judy (24 November 1993). "A Family Feud in Wake of 'Columbus' : Movies: Ilya Salkind has sued Alexander, his father and producing partner, for breach of contract, fraud and racketeering". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  4. ^ Willman, David (6 May 1992). "Christopher Columbus Sails Right Past Bankruptcy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  5. ^ Mathews, Jack (15 May 1991). "Can Two Columbus Projects Stay Afloat?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Dupont, Joan (31 January 1992). "Action! ColumbusMovies TakeAim at Each Other". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  8. ^ Davidson, Casey (8 November 1991). "Dalton's Discovery". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  9. ^ Fox, David J. (25 August 1992). "Weekend Box Office 'Unforgiven' at Top for Third Week". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  10. ^ "Revenues of Summer Movies Never Quite Fired Up Box Office". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  11. ^ Christopher Columbus: The Discovery at Box Office Mojo
  12. ^ "Top 10 Rank films in UK 1992". Screen International. 11 April 1997. p. 16.
  13. ^ "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  14. ^ Brenner, Paul (n.d.). "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery". ArtistDirect.
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Movie Review (1992) – Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Ebert's Most Hated – Roger Ebert's Journal – Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  17. ^ Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide
  18. ^ Rainer, Peter (24 August 1992). "Columbus: Adrift at Sea With No Paddle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  19. ^ Canby, Vincent (22 August 1992). "Review/Film; It's Goodbye, Columbus, As Torquemada Waves". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  20. ^ "Columbus As A Hollywood Hustler". Newsweek. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  21. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 20 December 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "1492: Conquest of Paradise". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  23. ^ "'Bodyguard' tops Razzie noms". Variety. 15 February 1993. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
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