Movies Interesting Facts 
In 2007, Chinese billionaire realtor John Jiang had a dream – to use his vast wealth and make a movie that would rival the biggest epics made by top Hollywood studios. In this effort, he began recruiting some of the top minds from Hollywood. But alas, as time passed, his glorious dream did not come true. The end result was that it was the most expensive film never released. It cost Jiang $130 million and no one ever saw it. ,Also read: The world’s biggest box office bomb, made for $32 million, earned only $918; Director rejected it, no OTT platform bought it,
The most expensive film that was never released
Originally titled Mermaid Island, this American-Chinese co-production was later titled Empires of the Deep. Since Jiang wanted the film to rival the best of James Cameron (Avatar), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), and George Lucas (Star Wars), he recruited James Cameron collaborator Randall Frakes to write the script. The screenwriting alone took four years, with ten writers developing 40 drafts. Only then could the shooting begin. The film was about warring tribes of mermen and was to be shot entirely underwater.
Casting proved to be a major hurdle. The producers wanted Monica Bellucci to play the lead role of the mermaid queen, but she dropped out. Sharon Stone entered negotiations, but never signed. Eventually, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko came on board and earned her first $1 million paycheck. The film was made on a budget of $130 million, with Irwin Kershner directing. However, after disagreements with Jiang, both Kershner and Frakes left the project. French filmmaker Pitoff, best known for Catwoman, was hired, but was soon fired as well. Eventually Jonathan Lawrence came on board and filming began.
When the director and crew left
By 2009, Lawrence became fed up with the direction of the film and left the film. First-time filmmaker Michael French signed on to replace him. He filmed the scenes twice, once according to his vision and the second time according to Jiang’s vision. This caused a lot of delay in the shooting. In 2010, the film’s release was announced with a half-baked trailer. The reaction to this and non-payment of crew salaries led to the director and crew leaving the project.
Jiang revived the film under director Scott Miller. By now even the actors were abandoning the sinking ship. Max Moulian, who played the hero’s assistant, left in 2011 without filming all of his scenes.
delay in release
Jiang planned a 2013 release after finishing the film with replacement actors. He wanted the film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but it never happened. Spielberg’s frequent collaborator, Michael Kahn, was hired the following year to edit the film. This led to a better looking trailer in 2016. However, the producer felt that more money was needed to re-shoot some parts. That money never came, and the project was shelved.
Empire of the Deep was never finished and therefore was never made available for home video or digital streaming. This means that to this day it remains the most expensive film never seen by audiences.
