Sahara (2005 film)

Sahara
Promotional poster
Directed by	Breck Eisner
Written by	James V. Hart Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer John C. Richards Clive Cussler (novel)
Produced by	Stephanie Austin Howard Baldwin Karen Baldwin Mace Neufeld
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Steve Zahn Penélope Cruz William H. Macy
Cinematography	Seamus McGarvey
Edited by	Andrew MacRitchie
Music by	Clint Mansell
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	April 6, 2005 (2005-04-06) United Kingdom April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08)
Running time	124 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom Spain Germany United States
Languages	English French Arabic
Budget	$160 million
Box office	$119,269,486

Sahara is a 2005 action-comedy adventure film directed by Breck Eisner and loosely based on the best-selling book of the same name by Clive Cussler.

Though it opened at number one in the US box office, grossing $18 million on its first weekend, Sahara is considered one of the biggest financial failures in Hollywood history since Ishtar. From a financial perspective, Sahara was unusual because it performed reasonably well, generating $122 million in gross box-office sales. However, the movie was beset by high costs, including $160 million in production costs and $81.1 million in distribution expenses. The film lost approximately $105 million according to a financial executive assigned to the movie; however Hollywood accounting methods assign losses at $78.3 million, taking into account projected revenue. According to Hollywood accounting, the film drew in revenue of $202.9 million against expenses of $281.2 million.

The Los Angeles Times presented an extensive special report on April 15, 2007 dissecting the budget of Sahara as an example of how Hollywood movies can cost so much to produce and fail; many of the often closely held documents had become public domain due to a lawsuit involving the film.

Plot

The film begins with a prologue set in Richmond, Virginia in 1865, showing the CSS ironclad Texas, carrying the last of the Confederacy’s treasure, trying to run a Union blockade. Captain Adrian Tombs is forced to move the Texas into the sea to avoid cannonfire from shore. The film then jumps to the modern day, when World Health Organization doctors Eva Rojas and Frank Hopper are investigating a disease that is spreading across Mali, Africa. Men attempt to murder Eva, but she is rescued by Dirk Pitt, the Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency, who happened to be nearby.

Eva and Frank attend a party where NUMA is presenting their latest discovery, and Dirk receives contact from a friend in the Nigerian underworld. He gives Dirk a golden Confederate States of America coin, one of supposedly only five in existence, which was found in the Niger River. Dirk believes that this coin is a clue to the location of the long-lost Texas, and he convinces his boss, Chief Director of NUMA James Sandecker, to let him, his partner and war buddy/best friend Al Giordino and Deputy Director of NUMA Rudi Gunn go to Mali to search for more clues. They are ordered to give Eva and Hopper a ride, so they can continue their investigation.

Meanwhile, rich businessman Yves Massarde, who was behind the attempted murder of Eva, and the bloodthirsty General Kazim, who currently is in control of Mali, conspire to stop the doctors, who might discover Massarde’s polluting solar detoxification plant. Kazim therefore sends men to kill not only the doctors, but also the NUMA adventurers. Dirk, Al and Rudi survive the attack, and while Rudi sneaks out of the country, Dirk and Al go off to rescue the doctors. They save Eva, but are too late to save Hopper, whom Kazim himself kills. The three set off into the desert, and are soon captured by Tuareg. They befriend the Tuaregs’ compassionate leader, Madibo, who shows Eva his people dying from the sickness she was studying. After taking samples, Eva discovers that it is not a plague, but a poison. The water is being contaminated.

Meanwhile, Al discovers a cave painting depicting the ironclad Texas sailing through the desert back when it still had water. Dirk believes that the Texas became stranded when the water dried up, and that therefore the ironclad is still buried in the Sahara, somewhere. They also surmise that the same river that carried the Texas inland now runs underground, and that this is how the contaminants are spreading. The three set off into the desert, and stumble upon the solar detoxification plant owned by Massarde Enterprises. Dirk and the others sneak into the complex, and discover that the plant has been dumping excess toxic waste underground, which is poisoning the river.

Meanwhile, Rudi and Sandecker discover from samples Rudi took that the poisoned water is heading down the Niger River and into the ocean, and that within a matter of weeks could spread throughout the entire world, killing all aquatic life. Massarde captures Dirk and the others, and while he keeps Eva, Dirk and Al are to be sent to Kazim. The duo manage to escape, and after trekking across the desert, manage to contact Sandecker, who warns them that Kazim and his troops are now searching for them.

Dirk and Al enlist Madibo’s help to return to the plant and rescue Eva; Modibo refuses to endanger his people. Modibo does help them infiltrate the facility but he leaves after rescuing some of his captive comrades. They discover that Massarde is going to ignite explosives to cause an explosion disguised as an industrial accident, in order to destroy the plant and cover up the evidence of Massarde’s pollution. While Al goes to remove the dynamite, Dirk goes off to stop Massarde from leaving in a helicopter with Eva. After a fight with one of Massadre's bodyguards, Dirk succeeds in saving Eva, but Massarde escapes. Dirk, Eva and Al leave the plant, but are attacked by Kazim in his chopper. The trio stumbles upon the buried Texas, and take cover inside. As Kazim’s forces arrive, Dirk manages to fire one of the ironclad’s cannons, shooting a cannonball into Kazim’s helicopter, which explodes. The army surrenders when Madibo surprisingly arrives with Tuareg reinforcements.

Some time later, Sandecker is offered a new job, and he accepts under a few conditions, one of which is hinted at being that Massarde be poisoned with his own contaminated water. The Texas gold is secretly given to Madibo’s people, and Dirk and Eva are seen relaxing on a Monterrey beach, now in a relationship.

Cast

• Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt
• Steve Zahn as Al Giordino
• Penélope Cruz as Eva Rojas
• Lambert Wilson as Yves Massarde
• Lennie James as Brigadier General Zateb Kazim
• William H. Macy as Admiral James Sandecker
• Rainn Wilson as Commander Rudi Gunn
• Delroy Lindo as Carl
• Patrick Malahide as Ambassador Polidori
• Glynn Turman as Dr. Frank Hopper
• Dayna Cussler as Kitty Mannock (Deleted scenes)
• Robert Cavanah as Captain Tombs
• Jude Akuwidike as Imam
• Mark Aspinall as Lawyer
• Rakie Ayola as Mrs. Nwokolo
• Christopher Bello as Train Driver
• Nicholas Beveney as Gunboat 1 Officer

Promotion

To promote the film, actor Matthew McConaughey drove his own personal Airstream trailer (painted with a large Sahara movie poster on each side) across America, stopping at military bases and many events, such as the Daytona 500 (to Grand Marshal the race), premiering the movie to fans, signing autographs, and doing interviews at each stop. The trip's highlights were shown on an E! channel special to coincide with the film's release. McConaughey also kept a running blog of his trip on MTV's entertainment website. Both MTV and the film's distributor, Paramount Pictures, are owned by Viacom.

According to McConaughey, this film was intended to be the first in a franchise of films based on Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels (much like the James Bond film franchise), but the poor box office performance of the film has stalled any plans for a sequel or a franchise.

Legal problems

In February 2005, Cussler took legal action against Philip Anschutz, the producer, for failing to consult him on the script.

Cussler sued the film's makers for breach of contract and producer Anschutz counter-sued Cussler for "alleged blackmail and sabotage attempts against the film prior to its 2005 release." Cussler claims that his initial brief of "absolute control" over the book's adaptation to the big screen was compromised and this contributed to it becoming a box office failure. In a statement to a Los Angeles court, Cussler says, "They deceived me right from the beginning. They kept lying to me... and I just got fed up with it." Anschutz countered that Cussler's behavior played a big role in the film's financial woes. His lawyer said "It is the height of arrogance for Cussler to take $10 million to make a movie and then torpedo the franchise."

Anschutz prevailed. On May 15, 2007, the jury awarded him $5 million, leaving it to the judge to separately determine whether or not Anschutz should have to pay $8.5 million to Cussler for rights to a second book. In a decision on January 8, 2008, Judge John Shook denied Cussler's claim for the $8.5 million.

On March 10, 2009, Judge John P. Shook ordered Clive Cussler to pay $13.9 million in legal fees to the production company. A March 2010 decision by the California Court of Appeals has since overturned the earlier awardings of both the $5 million in damages and nearly $14 million in legal fees to Crusader.

Reception

Sahara has been given mostly mixed reviews. It holds a 39% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and with a score of 41 out of a 100 on Metacritic. It ranked 34th by U.S. box-office sales among titles released in 2005, at $68.6 million.

Historical accuracy

The real CSS Texas was unfinished when Richmond fell. It was captured intact by Union forces, but never used.

External links

• Sahara Movie Website
• The Official Website of Author Clive Cussler - Clive's Official Website
• Sahara at IMDb
• Sahara at AllMovie
• Sahara at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sahara at Box Office Mojo