Line #14 Trivia/BattlefieldEarth


1	!!The Book
2	* ParodyRetcon: In response to the ValuesDissonance in the book, the Church of Scientology now claims that Hubbard was affectionately sending up many of Golden Age ScienceFiction tropes that he helped create.
3
4	!!The Film
5	* ActorInspiredElement: It was Creator/BarryPepper's idea that Johnnie insist that everyone eat after the prison fight. Originally, he was going to give food to his beaten opponent. Pepper felt the scene as originally written was cliched.
6	* AwardCategoryFraud: Creator/BarryPepper won Worst Supporting Actor at the Razzies despite playing the protagonist. He was also nominated in supporting for the Stinkers Bad Movies Awards. In both cases, the top billed Creator/JohnTravolta won Worst Actor.
7	* BillingDisplacement: The film was supposed to be about Jonnie's quest to save Earth, but advertisements heavily focus on Creator/JohnTravolta, who plays the antagonist Terl.
8	* BoxOfficeBomb: The film made $29,725,663 on a budget of $44 million, not counting marketing or Franchise Pictures' embezzlement, which pushed it to $75 million. A week following the 2001 Razzie Awards (where it won seven Razzies, later winning two more in 2006 and 2011), Travolta [[BlatantLies claimed the film was]] "edging toward the $100 million mark".
9	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/JohnTravolta had wanted to make TheFilmOfTheBook since the latter was published in 1982, but he wanted to star as the rebellious human Jonnie. By the time he got funding, he decided he was too old to fit the role (one of precious few good judgments the production made).
10	* ChannelHop: This film was originally set up at Creator/{{MGM}} and then picked up by Fox 2000 Pictures until the project was finally dropped by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for unknown reasons in the mid 1990's. Creator/FranchisePictures picked up the project in turn around with the budget significantly less.
11	* CreatorBacklash:
12	** J.D. Shapiro, the original screenwriter, ''openly apologized'' for this film, and even personally received the film's UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Movie of the Decade, 2000–2009.
13	** Corey Mandell, the other credited screenwriter, was similarly scathing about the end product, saying in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwMcg6_AU_g 2019 interview]] that he only took the job as a personal favor to the then-head of production at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox (who were attached to produce the movie before Franchise Pictures took it over), that his screenplay was almost totally junked and turned into a more straightforward adaptation of the novel, and that the only positives about having worked on the movie were that he knew his career could ''never'' sink that low again, and that he should never work [[MoneyDearBoy just for the money]] again.
14	** Creator/BarryPepper (Jonnie) said that had he known he was going to win the Worst Supporting Actor award at the 21st Razzies, he would have shown up to accept his trophy in person, too.
15	** Creator/ForestWhitaker (Ker) has also gone on record saying that he regrets appearing in the movie. Apparently even [[MoneyDearBoy the lure of money]] wasn't enough to justify it in his eyes.
16	** Even the film's cinematographer, Giles Nuttgens, has gone on record as saying that the overuse of color filters and {{Dutch angle}}s wasn't his idea, and that he was given the smallest lighting budget he had ever worked with.
17	** Production designer Creator/PatrickTatopoulos considers this film as his worst work experience.
18	* CreatorCouple: Creator/JohnTravolta's wife, Creator/KellyPreston, plays Terl's girlfriend.
19	* CreatorKiller: In addition to the film grossly underperforming in all areas, the egregious case of UsefulNotes/HollywoodAccounting involved in the production led to Franchise Pictures being sued into bankruptcy. Creator/JohnTravolta's hopes of producing the sequel at all and having any creative input in future movies has also been given a handicap, and Roger Christian hasn't been a major director in cinema since 2000. Credited writer Corey Mandell also abandoned screenwriting in favor of teaching at film schools, realizing that his career was never realistically going to recover from being associated with such a major bomb.
20	* ExecutiveMeddling:
21	** It's been pretty much stated that [[WagTheDirector John Travolta was in charge of everything.]] It has also been alleged that David Miscavige, the [[Literature/GoingClear infamous leader]] of the Church of Scientology, influenced much of Travolta's decision-making through the production and threw him under the bus when the film bombed.
22	** Before that, J.D. Shapiro, the first screenwriter, was fired because the first studio that expressed an interest in the project ([[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]]) wanted to change his script too much (which he knew would be a bad decision …). He [[CreatorBacklash practically disowned the film]], and even decided to accept his Razzies.
23	** The same thing happened with the next screenwriter, Corey Mandell, who tried to retool the original novel to make it more palatable to modern audiences, only for the producers to change it back to being a more direct adaptation of the novel -- which he suspected was what they had wanted him to do all along to Shapiro's draft.
24	** According to the lawsuit and federal investigation afterward, Franchise Pictures made a living starving movies of their planned budgets and taking the leftover as pure profit. In this case, the $75 million budget film only got $44 million.
25	* MeaningfulReleaseDate: It was released on May 12, 2000, the first Friday after the 50th anniversary (that May 9) of the publication of ''Dianetics'', a major Scientology holiday.
26	* TheMerch: Yes, the film actually ''had a toyline''. It was one of Trendmasters' last ones, in fact. The toyline consisted of several small figures (Terl, Ker, Prisoner Jonnie, Jonnie in Learning Chair, Carlo, and a Forest Warrior) and vehicles for them (the Psychlo Battlecraft, plus an F-18 Strike Jet and M-1 Thunder Battletank recycled from Trendmasters’ ''Film/Godzilla1998'' toyline) rounded off by a 12" talking Terl figure. There were also a set of trading cards from Upper Deck and an official behind the scenes movie magazine from ''Starlog''.
27	* MissingTrailerScene: There was most likely supposed to be a romance between Jonnie and Chrissy that never made it into the final cut of the film. One of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjB_5QAN7a4&ab_channel=2663KinkyCyborg trailers]] has a moment where Jonnie and Chrissy are about to kiss, which never happens.
28	* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/ForestWhitaker has admitted he did it for the pay gig.
29	* ProducedByCastMember: Creator/JohnTravolta was one of the producers.
30	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
31	** Ever since the book was first published in 1982, Creator/LRonHubbard dreamed of seeing it on the big screen. He gave an interview in February 1983 to the ''Rocky Mountain News'' in which he told the reporter:
32	-->I've recently written three screenplays, and some interest has been expressed in ''Battlefield Earth'', so I suppose I'll be right back in Hollywood one of these days and probably on location in the Denver area for ''Battlefield Earth'' when they film it.
33	** In October 1983, the Church of Scientology's in-house literary agency, Author Services Inc., sold the film rights to Salem Productions of Los Angeles. Two films were envisaged, each covering half of the book and tentatively budgeted at $15 million each. William Immerman was set to produce. Veteran screenwriter Abraham Polonsky and British director Ken Annakin were hired to produce a film breakdown, with production scheduled to begin in 1985. In November 1984, Santa Monica public relations firm Dateline Communications announced a nationwide contest to promote the film. First- and second-place prizes were an all-expense-paid trip to the production location and a paid walk-on part in the film, and other announced prizes included a trip to Los Angeles for the world premiere, records, cassettes, and hardcover and paperback copies of the novel. [[http://www.fiawol.org.uk/fanstuff/TAFF1984/terl.jpg A 30-foot high inflatable figure of Terl]] was erected by Scientology officials on Hollywood Boulevard in 1984 in an effort to promote the production and auditions were held in Denver. The low-budget project soon collapsed, and Hubbard died soon afterwards, in 1986.
34	** Hubbard sent Creator/JohnTravolta, who had been a Scientologist since 1975, an autographed copy of the novel in 1982 in the hopes that Travolta would use his clout to get the film made "in the vein of ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind". Travolta was interested, but his star had declined following a string of flops. His involvement with the film was first publicised in late 1995 and in 1998, Franchise Pictures took over the production. Filming finally took place in 1999.
35	* ScullyBox: Creator/JohnTravolta wore four-foot stilts to play Terl.
36	* StarDerailingRole: This film was notoriously received so terribly in 2000, it severely damaged the careers of many actors who starred in it.
37	** Creator/JohnTravolta had actually derailed his career once back in TheEighties when the ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' sequel ''Staying Alive'' was torn to shreds by critics, with his screen prospects being unsteady for several years before clinching a CareerResurrection by starring in ''Film/PulpFiction''. Travolta had good luck for the rest of TheNineties with numerous successes including ''Film/GetShorty'' and ''Film/FaceOff''. Unfortunately, ''Battlefield Earth'' killed all the goodwill Travolta had accumulated, and after decades of bomb after bomb since then, the majority of his films have gone DirectToVideo.
38	** Creator/BarryPepper, although not a major star like Travolta was, had built up a decent resume with minor roles in hit films such as ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'', and ''Film/TheGreenMile''. ''Battlefield Earth'' was intended to be the movie that would truly certify him as a star to watch, only for its failure to push him back to the periphery. He regained favor on film with roles in critical darlings like ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'', ''Film/TheThreeBurialsOfMelquiadesEstrada'', ''Film/FlagsOfOurFathers'', and ''Film/TrueGrit'' (which was also a financial success), but they were often barely profitable. However, he did have a stroke of luck on television after he won an MediaNotes/EmmyAward for ''Series/TheKennedys''.
39	** Creator/KellyPreston, Travolta's wife, had a solid career throughout the '80s and '90s before starring in this film alongside her husband. Her next major role after ''Battlefield Earth'' failed badly was as the children's mother in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' starring Creator/MikeMyers, which was also poorly received. None of her films released during the rest of her lifetime garnered any major praise before she died of breast cancer in 2020, although ''Film/SkyHigh'' has since become a CultClassic.
40	** Creator/ForestWhitaker suffered from this disaster the least, having built up esteem with such roles as Music/CharlieParker in ''Bird'' and the title character in ''Film/GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai''. After ''Battlefield Earth'', he was relegated to the sidelines for the next six years before achieving a CareerResurrection in 2006 with his critically praised performance as UsefulNotes/IdiAmin in ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.
41	* StillbornFranchise: The film only covers the first half of the book. Despite Creator/JohnTravolta's (decade-old) claims, it is probably safe to say that the sequel is not forthcoming. Not that a planned sequel would have been very exciting anyway, as the second half of the book basically revolved around getting the paperwork for the first half squared away when the Psychlos' bankers came calling. An animated series was also planned and actually went quite far into production, with voice actors being cast and, according to rumors, the pilot episode was almost fully animated by the time of the film's release. Needless to say, no network was too eager to pick up the series after ''Battlefield Earth'' became one of the most notorious pieces of cinema ever created.
42	* TroubledProduction: The film took almost 20 years to get to the big screen:
43	** L. Ron Hubbard intended for the book to be turned into a movie from the moment he had it finished, and recruited British director Ken Annakin to help produce a movie adaptation. However, Hubbard's ongoing legal troubles meant that it proved impossible to get finance for the movie. When Hubbard died, Creator/JohnTravolta started trying to get it made into a film, but this proved difficult as he had been sent into a career slump following ''Film/StayingAlive''. It wouldn't be until he had a CareerResurrection in ''Film/PulpFiction'' that he had enough star power to convince anyone to touch it.
44	** He started putting even more effort in 1995, eventually getting MGM interested in the project. J.D. Shapiro signed on as screenwriter -- later admitting that he did so [[MoneyDearBoy mostly for the paycheck]] and because he'd heard Scientology centres were good places to pick up women -- but ended up quitting after not being able to see eye to eye with either Travolta or MGM. MGM eventually dropped the film, and 20th Century Fox picked it up. A new screenwriter, Corey Mandell, was hired and tried to produce a PragmaticAdaptation of Hubbard's novel, which Travolta seemed more accepting of.
45	** However, 20th Century Fox then dropped the project themselves, leading to it being taken on by Franchise Pictures, a company that specialized in salvaging Hollywood stars' personal projects -- and also massively padding out their budgets, allowing them to pull all sorts of embezzlement scams with the budgets. According to Mandell, Franchise only provided the financing, with the rest of production essentially being handled in-house by the Church of Scientology and Travolta's production company, removing any real oversight of Travolta and allowing things to start going completely off the rails. The screenplay was completely rewritten and turned into a more straightforward translation of the novel, with Mandell and Shapiro both being credited as writers, but subsequently disowning the movie.
46	** When filming began, the production team had to move from the U.S. to Canada in order to keep costs down. Even then, the budget ended up ballooning (in no small part due to Franchise padding out the budget immensely) to the point where it became the most expensive film ever shot in Canada. Despite this, many of the film's crew complained that the actual budget they were afford was barely any better than what they'd had to work with on the average TV movie. The film's director of photography later claimed that the film had the smallest lighting budget he'd ever seen.
47	** The Psychlo make-up was challenging for both Travolta and co-star Creator/ForestWhitaker. Travolta had envisioned his wife Creator/KellyPreston playing a larger part in the movie, but it was downgraded to a one-scene cameo due to a combination of Preston being busy on another project, and her finding the make-up incredibly uncomfortable and claustrophobic during screen tests. Production ended up taking so long that Travolta had to cancel two other roles in order to finish ''Battlefield''.
48	** Right before the film was set to release, a version of the screenplay was leaked and retitled online by alternative newspaper ''Mean Magazine''. Reviews for the screenplay were scathing, pretty much ensuring the film would be the complete commercial disaster that it was.
49	** As the icing on the cake, one of the film's main financial backers later sued Franchise Pictures into bankruptcy after finding out the extent of the financial fraud that had taken place with the film's production.
50	* WagTheDirector: The DVDCommentary makes it clear that Creator/JohnTravolta, not Roger Christian, was in the driver's seat. Considering his status as driving force behind the project and probable writer of the script, though, perhaps the wonder is that he wasn't ''actually'' the director.
51	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
52	** J. David Shapiro's first draft for the film.
53	** Travolta asked Creator/QuentinTarantino to direct, but he declined. [[http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/13709/the-den-of-geek-interview-roger-christian-part-3 (He still attended the premiere and said kind words to Roger Christian.)]]
54	** The script originally had the Psychlos jumping into vats of oil. This was changed to them lounging around.
55	* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/JohnTravolta and Creator/KellyPreston wrote the latter's cameo scene themselves.
56	----
57	* ''Battlefield Earth''[='s=] UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Picture of 2000–2009, presented at the 30th ceremony, was its ninth one. Previously, it won seven Razzies (including that for Worst Picture of 2000) at the 21st ceremony and the special award for Worst Drama of 1980–2005 at the 25th.
58	* Of the eight Razzies the film was nominated for at the 21st Golden Raspberry Awards, it won seven -- the only reason it didn't win all eight was that the film was nominated twice for "Worst Supporting Actor", with Forest Whitaker losing to Barry Pepper. The only award categories it wasn't nominated for were Worst Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel (which the film didn't qualify for, meeting none of the criteria) and Worst Actress (which it didn't qualify for, having no female lead).

Context Trivia / BattlefieldEarth