Supernova is a 2000 American science fiction film written by David C. Wilson, William Malone, and Daniel Chuba, and directed by Walter Hill, credited as "Thomas Lee."
Malone originally developed the film in the late 1980s as Dead Star, with paintings by H. R. Giger and a plot pitched as Hellraiser (1987) or Dead Calm (1989) in space. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer then bought it in the 1990s, and retitled it Supernova; Malone was no longer involved. "Thomas Lee" was chosen as a directorial pseudonym for release in lieu of Alan Smithee, as the latter had become too well known as a badge of a film being disowned by its makers. Jack Sholder was hired for substantial uncredited reshoots, and Francis Ford Coppola was brought in for editing purposes. Various sources suggest that little of Hill's work remains in the theatrical cut of the film. The cast features James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, and Wilson Cruz. The film was shot by cinematographer Lloyd Ahern II and scored by composers David C. Williams and Burkhard Dallwitz.
Released domestically by MGM Distribution Co. and internationally by United International Pictures on January 14, 2000, the film was panned by critics, who criticized the story, characters, pacing, and effects, and was a box-office bomb, only grossing $14.8 million against its budget of between $60–90 million during its theatrical release, with an estimated loss of $83 million.
Plot Supernova chronicles the search-and-rescue patrol of the medical ship Nightingale 229 in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew, which includes captain and pilot A.J. Marley, co-pilot Nick Vanzant, medical officer Kaela Evers, medical technician Yerzy Penalosa, search and rescue paramedic Danika Lund and computer technician Benjamin Sotomejor. Aboard their vessel, they receive an emergency distress signal coming from an ice mining operation on the moon Titan 37, more than 3,000 light-years away.
The crew answers the call and dimension-jumps—during which Captain Marley suffers fatal injuries due to a malfunction of the ship's equipment—arriving in the path of Titan 37's debris cloud, some of which damages the ship and causes the loss of 82 percent of its maneuvering fuel. Worse still, Titan 37 orbits a blue giant, and its high gravity field will pull the ship to the point where it will be incinerated in 17 hours, 12 minutes—which happens to be almost the same amount of time that the Nightingale 229 will need to recharge its jump drive, their only possible hope for escape. With only an 11-minute window for escape, the surviving crew soon find themselves in danger from the disturbing young man they rescue, and the mysterious alien artifact he has smuggled aboard. This artifact is analyzed by the ship's computer and is said to contain nine-dimensional matter.
It is ultimately discovered that the young man who called for rescue is actually Karl Larson, an old former lover of Kaela (it is implied that he was abusive). Karl came into contact with the nine-dimensional matter after recovering the artifact. It somehow enabled him to acquire superhuman strength and supernatural healing abilities, and made him younger (such that Kaela did not recognize him). Karl murders most of the crew except Kaela and strands Nick on the mining platform. Karl fails to romantically reconcile with Kaela. Nick finds his way back to the medical ship through a rescue pod left on the mining platform, and a battle ensues between Nick and Karl. Karl is ultimately killed by Kaela using explosives placed near the alien artifact which Karl was obsessed with retrieving. The explosion ejects the artifact into space, hurtling it towards the blue giant.
With moments left before the dimension jump activates, Kaela and Nick place themselves into the only remaining dimensional stabilization chamber (Karl had destroyed all but one), which is the only thing that enables human beings to survive the ship's dimensional jump drive. The pods are meant to hold only one person; two subjects might be genetically mixed during the dimensional jump. Before Nick and Kaela enter the last pod, the computer warns them that the nine-dimensional matter is reacting with the gravity of the blue giant sun and will cause a nine-dimensional reaction that will spread in all directions, such that the reaction's resulting supernova will reach Earth within 51 years. The computer hypothesizes that the reaction will either destroy life on Earth or "enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence". Just before the blue giant supernovas, the ship engages in a dimensional jump which brings Nick and Kaela back to Earth. As a result of their being in the same pod, the two of them each have one eye of the other person's original eye color. The ship's computer also reveals that Kaela is pregnant, which may be the result of them being in the pod together during the jump, or the result of their copulation hours earlier.
Cast James Spader as Nick Vanzant, Co-Pilot Angela Bassett as Dr. Kaela Evers, Medical Officer Robert Forster as A.J. Marley, Captain and Pilot Lou Diamond Phillips as Yerzy Penalosa, Medical Technician Peter Facinelli as Karl Larson Robin Tunney as Danika Lund, Search and Rescue Paramedic Wilson Cruz as Benjamin Sotomejor, Computer Technician Eddy Rice Jr. as Flyboy Knox Grantham White (Kerrigan Mahan, voice) as Troy Larson Vanessa Marshall (voice) as Sweetie Kevin Sizemore (uncredited) as Rescue Leader
Production Development as Dead Star The project originated in the late 1980s with horror filmmaker William Malone, who initially described it as "Hellraiser in space". In 1990, Malone pitched it under the title Dead Star, saying it would be like "Dead Calm in space" and envisioned it as a modestly budgeted film that would cost around $5–6 million. He developed the idea after producer Ash R. Shah asked him for a project in a similar vein to Creature (1985).
According to Malone in 2000, the original concept of Dead Star concerned a space mission sent to retrieve a spaceship that had been lost a year or two earlier and was now stranded on the edge of a black hole. Upon arrival, the rescuers discover alien devices that had been recovered from a planet where the local inhabitants had made contact with the Devil. These devices had already killed the original crew, and the malevolent force—effectively the Devil itself—was now loose aboard the ship. In a later account, Malone described its depiction of hell as a literal parallel dimension and said the device would also unleash nightmarish manifestations and bats.
Malone and Shah asked H. R. Giger to produce conceptual sketches to help promote the script and attract financing. Malone spent about ten days (or roughly a week) working with Giger at the artist’s home in Zurich around Christmas 1990. Giger designed elements including the Thanatron (a large machine resembling bundled decaying organ pipes, standing some thirty feet high),HR Giger's Film Design, p. 106 the Shard (a key device connected to the Thanatron capable of raising the dead), and a multifaced Satan with huge horns and a cloak of living souls; he was paid 10,000 Swiss francs for the work. Giger himself later described the project as a "sort of Hellraiser in space" and noted that the eventual version was a much simplified take on what had attracted him.
Despite several studios interest in the script, the original low-budget version struggled to secure financing as its scope expanded. Malone later said he lost track of the project after the rights were sold.
Development as Supernova Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) bought the project, now titled Supernova, and a series of writers were put on the script, including David Campbell Wilson, Daniel Chuba, Cathy Rabin and Thomas Wheeler. By 1997 the story had changed to be about a deep space medical ship called the Nova which answers a distress signal and finds an aging cargo vessel about to be sucked into a black hole. The sole survivor of the sinking ship comes on board the Nova.
Because a film with a plot similar to Malone's initial concept, Event Horizon (1997), had recently been released, Supernova was largely reworked to avoid appearing to imitate it or other science-fiction works such as Alien (1979), Sphere (1998), and the television series Lost in Space (1965–1968). According to production designer Marek Dobrowolski: "We wanted to get away from that concept that was produced so well and reproduced many, many times by others." Instead, Dobrowolski described Supernova as more a combination of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Crimson Tide (1995), emphasizing "confined horror sequences and the simplicity of 2001." He also expressed hope that the film would still feel distinctive.Laski, Beth (September 1998). "Black Hole Sun". Cinescape. Vol. 4, no. 4, p. 20. ISSN 1077-3363.
Australian Geoffrey Wright was originally attached to direct but left the project two months before principal photography was to begin due to "creative differences." Apparently, he had an idea about shooting the entire film in zero gravity, but MGM disagreed. Vincent D'Onofrio was originally cast as the computer tech but when Wright was fired, D'Onofrio also walked out.MEGAPHONE The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 14 Mar 1998: C18. James Spader was cast in the lead.
Wright was replaced by Jack Sholder. However, MGM head Frank Mancuso Sr. was reluctant to use him. Spader campaigned for Walter Hill, who had written and produced the three Alien films. Hill says he "was interested in doing a science fiction thing"; he thought the script "had fixable problems" and he wanted to work with James Spader.
MGM were worried that the Screen Actors Guild would strike that summer (which ended up being averted). They did not delay the April 1998 start date, which left Hill only weeks to organize the production. He spent much of that time reworking the script, not knowing that the president of United Artists (Lindsay Doran) was very attached to the script.
"Walter's vision of the film was different from the studio's. It's a shame that couldn't be resolved during production," screenwriter David Wilson said.
Filming Filming began in April 1998. Hill said the budget of the film was cut halfway through production."Interview with Walter Hill Chapter 8" Directors Guild of America , § 13:40–17:45, accessed 18 Jan 2015
Visual effects house Digital Domain was once considering a production collaboration with MGM. Under such a deal, the visual effects would be delivered below market rates, since Digital, as a partial owner of some MGM films, would have an incentive to keep costs down. The collaboration fell through and the production had to pay for "the full spa treatment," according to producer Daniel Chubas. MGM had to scrap about half of the planned visual effects shots. A weightless sex scene between Robin Tunney and Peter Facinelli was shot in seats mounted on a rotating pole that was digitally removed in post-production. The script also involved a cutting-edge robot—remotely operated by someone's manipulating gloves—that performs long-distance medical examinations. This became an actor dressed as an android. Finally, a sequence where Spader rescued someone inside a bubble of zero-gravity water was never filmed.
After principal photography was finished in July 1998, Hill spent 24 weeks editing his director's cut of the film, which still did not have all the visual effects scenes added into it. MGM decided to screen the film to a test audience. Hill told them that the screening would be a complete disaster because the film was still not finished and because he wanted to shoot some more footage. MGM refused, saying the additional footage would cost another $1.5 million. Hill would not return to work until Mancuso met with him, and Mancuso would not meet with Hill until the director returned to work.