Michael Caine significantly miscalculated the box office potential of the 1985 comedy Water, predicting a $50-60 million gross but seeing the film earn less than $1.3 million worldwide, according to a report by Far Out magazine.
The actor, fresh off an Academy Award nomination for Educating Rita, believed Water would reverse a string of less successful films including The Honorary Consul and The Jigsaw Man. The film, directed by Dick Clement, centers on a British diplomat stationed on a Caribbean island where a lucrative mineral water deposit is discovered. Caine expressed confidence in the film’s comedic appeal, stating before its release, “This picture is very funny, but it’s not going to get anybody an Academy Award. It might get a $50-60 million gross, which to me is just as important. If they go broke on this picture, they’re not going to give me any more work.”
Despite a debut in the top ten in the United Kingdom, Water struggled to find distribution in the United States and ultimately flopped in both territories. The film’s actual earnings fell drastically short of Caine’s expectations, representing a difference of over 3,800 percent.
Caine acknowledged the film’s shortcomings, stating, “You don’t go into a film thinking, ‘This is a load of crap, but I need the money.’ I do things that I like and then make sure I get the maximum amount of money out of it. I figure if I’m going to work, someone’s going to make massive amounts of money. One of the people is going to be me.”
Leonardo DiCaprio recently tied records at the BAFTAs, receiving his fourth Best Actor nomination, a feat previously achieved by Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Caine, and Laurence Olivier, according to IMDb. This occurred as awards season predictions focus on Timothée Chalamet and Marty Supreme, as reported by Awards Daily, and as ‘One Battle After Another’ vies for a record-breaking number of nominations at the BAFTA and WGA Awards, according to Variety.
