The Mega Millions Fantasy Epic Filmed And Never Released
Before the rise of blockbuster mega-franchises, when movie projects weren’t so difficult to get off the ground, filmmaking was much like game-making. Unfinished products that often fall victim to long production cycles and unachievable ambitions are forever doomed to the state of perpetual development hell and dust-collecting on some shelf somewhere. Empires of the Deep, a big-budget movie financed by a Chinese real estate tycoon, unfortunately met this fate.
The Fantasy Epic That Almost Was
Empires of the Deep is an unreleased 3D action-adventure movie whose plot follows the eight mermaid kingdoms, which have reigned as the protectors of the oceans since the creation of Earth. However, the current peace comes under threat as the Demon-Mage and his legions re-emerge, while the legendary Greek hero Atlas sets out to rescue his father and bring back the holy Temple of Poseidon, which was previously stolen by an army of mermen knights.
As messy as it sounds, it still sounds better than Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
High Price Tag
Empires of the Deep is a pet project of Jon Jiang (Jiang Hongyu), who came up with the story and financed a big part of the film’s $130 million budget. Interestingly enough, the billionaire realtor never imagined the movie, written by Randall Frakes (best known for his work on The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and directed by Jonathan Lawrence, Micheal French, and Scott Miller, as a Chinese product. He wanted his creation to be a global movie that would appeal to worldwide audiences and be the best of what 3D movies had to offer—at the time, at least.
Empires Of The Deep Was Never Released
However, Jon Jiang soon found out that it takes more than just vision and big bucks to create a masterpiece, especially if you’re chasing both the visuals and the narrative quality. James Cameron took nearly two decades to properly develop and shoot Avatar, and Luc Besson waited two decades straight for CGI to advance enough to make Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. But that wasn’t the case here and despite massive efforts to make the film, the multi-million Empires of the Deep never saw the daylight of its release.
Rife With Issues
One of the reasons why Empires of the Deep was never released was massive production issues that took place. The script was heavily revised multiple times by several different people, and by the time Jonathan Lawrance got to Beijing to work on the movie, Jon Jiang already started working on 3D models and visual concepts for Mermaid World. This interfered with Lawrence’s directorial vision for the movie, and instead of working together to bring the movie to life, Lawrence and Jiang often fought over creative control.
A Missed Opportunity?
Ultimately, the creative differences between those in charge of production and the differences in work culture led to a breakdown in production. Empires of the Deep changed several directors and cast members, the production costs went well over its intended budget, and the movie fell through. As a result, Empires of the Deep, though planned as the beginning of a massive franchise mirroring that of Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, was never finished, and the film remains unreleased to this day.
