A trailer for the Chinese-American co-production Empires of the Deep has gone online. I was completely unfamiliar with the project, but Twitch did a good job catching me up. The project was originally set to star Monica Bellucci, be directed by Pitof (Catwoman), and produced by the late Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back). They all quickly fled the project, leaving Jonathan Lawrence and then Michael French to direct, Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) replacing Bellucci, and no one to produce. And if you're wondering what a real producer does, it's the person who works hard to prevent delays and budget overruns. Guess what happened on Empires of the Deep. Partially financed by Chinese real estate tycoon Jon Jiang, who also wrote the script, the project has reportedly ended up costing $130 million. And the result? A movie that looks like crappy underwater Avatar or a gritty live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer.
Via Twitch.