How a $260 million script became an $80 million sci-fi flop
In short: Tim Burton’s 1996 cult classic Mars Attacks! was born from a chaotic production battle. Between studio demands to remove burning cows and a massive budget overhaul, the film's journey from a massive blockbuster concept to a box-office disappointment is as wild as the Martian invasion itself.
The origins of Mars Attacks! lie in the Topps trading card series, but the path to the screen was fraught with creative tension. Screenwriter Jonathan Gems originally delivered a draft in 1994 that Warner Bros. estimated would cost $260 million. To bring the budget down to a target of $60 million, the studio commissioned rewrites from Gems, Burton, and the duo of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. While the final production budget settled at $80 million, the studio also spent an additional $20 million on marketing.
The film's visual identity was shaped by significant technical pivots. Tim Burton initially envisioned the Martians using stop-motion animation, inspired by the work of Ray Harryhausen. He even hired Barry Purves to lead a team of 70 animators who studied the movement of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. However, due to time and budget constraints, the production shifted to computer animation provided by Industrial Light & Magic.
Despite its eventual status as a cult classic, the film was a commercial failure, grossing approximately $101.4 million against its high costs. The scale of the destruction was also scaled back for economic reasons; Gems' original plan included the destruction of Manhattan building by building, but the final film focused the global devastation on just three major cities. This era of filmmaking saw the film competing in a landscape shared by other 1996 hits like Independence Day, though Gems noted that while both featured invasions, his film was more akin to the satirical tone of Dr. Strangelove.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Mars Attacks!
- Also: Wikidata — Mars Attacks! · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Mars Attacks! · CC0
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