CULT HITS TO PIRATES
The filming of Pirates of the Caribbean’s fifth instalment is the latest in a long line of big budget movies to be shot on the Coast
THE Gold Coast and Tweed region is known for its vibrant cinema industry. Some of Australia’s best-loved films have been made here in the past 30 years including the Coolangatta Gold, Muriel’s Wedding, Mental and Getting’ Square.
This week the Gold Coast waved goodbye as production of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales wound down and filming all but concluded.
After five months of wild stories of Johnny Depp, his dogs Boo and Pistol and stand-offs with the Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, the biggest movie in the city’s history is finished.
It has always been the dream of local supporters of the industry for the Gold Coast to be a location for a major critical and commercial hit but, more often than not, the city has hosted some of Hollywood’s stranger and lesser films.
So the completion of Pirates across five months has the local industry buzzing about the fact a huge shoot was completed here from start to finish.
But to the lesser lights. In the early 1990s the video game Street Fighter II was a groundbreaking development for the industry upon its release on the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo, with realistic violence and iconic characters.
The success of the game sparked interest in a film adaptation and major stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue were signed to appear as Colonel William F. Guile and Cammy.
Production, led by director Steven E. de Souza, arrived in early 1994 and Gold Coast filming began.
Locations across the city were used, as were soundstages at Warner Brothers Movie World.
Despite the popular source material and big-name cast, the film did poorly at the box office and got little love from critics.
Mr de Souza revealed in early 2014 that the production was troubled from the beginning, with struggles ranging from Van Damme’s then-cocaine use to his fling with Minogue.
“So what was happening was that frequently Jean-Claude was supposed to show up at seven in the morning, and he wasn’t there. He said he’s sick. Actually he was wiped, recovering from the night before,” Mr De Souza told polygon.com.
Among its largest problems was the declining health of lead actor Raul Julia, playing the film’s villain, General M. Bison. Julia was dying of stomach cancer during the making and passed away soon after returning to the US in October, 1994.
However, while filming on the Gold Coast his family spent time with the actor and enjoyed the sights.
Despite his situation, Julia delivered a well-regarded performance as the highly camp and theatrical villain and his colleagues spoke well of him, dedicating the film to his memory. Parts of the $35 million production were also shot in Brisbane and Thailand.
The film was completed in late 1994 and was released on December 23 that year, earning $3.1 million on its opening day in the US.
Despite this strong start, it came third at the box office on its opening weekend, up against comedy smashhit Dumb and Dumber and family friendly Christmas movie The Santa Clause.
Critics were not kind, smashing the film and ensuring it now has a 12 per cent rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the critical drubbing, Street Fighter ultimately racked up around $99.4 million at the US box office during its run and remains a cult hit among video game fans.