25 Years Ago, Horny Space Movie Supernova Became the First Big Flop of the 21st Century

By Craig D. Lindsey  |  January 13, 2025 | 10:14am
Movies Features science fiction
25 Years Ago, Horny Space Movie Supernova Became the First Big Flop of the 21st Century
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Released 25 years ago this week, Supernova was the first big flop of the 21st century. Made on a budget somewhere between $60-$90 million, this critically reviled, cinematic space jam was dumped in theaters by MGM, only taking in $14.8 million. 

Is it yet another undervalued, long-lost gem that deserves a second look? Um, not really. 

The movie follows the crew of the Nightingale 229, which appears to be the most sex-positive, emergency rescue vessel in the cosmos. Medical tech Yerzy (Lou Diamond Phillips) and paramedic Danika (Robin Tunney) are smashing all over the ship, getting some practice in before they launch their mission to procreate. New pilot/ex-addict Nick (a studly James Spader) initially butts heads with medical officer Dr. Evers (Angela Bassett), but it isn’t long before they’re hooking up in zero gravity as well. The ship even has a seductively-voiced computer named Sweetie, who’s also sweet on Benjamin (Wilson Cruz), the computer technician. Marley (a very brief Robert Forster), the captain of the rockin’ ship, is too busy watching Tom & Jerry cartoons (for an anthropology dissertation on violent cartoons) in the cockpit to get in on the fun.

All this casual, carnal action gets interrupted when a distress call comes in. They jump through dimensions to pick up Troy (a studlier Peter Facinelli), a treasure hunter who also happens to be the son of Evers’s toxic ex. He hops aboard the ship carrying cargo that includes an interdimensional MacGuffin that replenishes all the natural elements of life. It could also destroy the whole damn galaxy if they bring it back home. 

I almost forgot how horny-as-hell Supernova is. Troy works his devious charm on Danika, who takes him to that zero-gravity chamber for some weightless boot-knocking. Meanwhile, Yerzy can’t stay away from that contraption, damn near reaching orgasmic bliss every time he slides his hands all up in that thang. 

Supernova is a warp-speed mess that doesn’t know whether it’s trying to scare you or turn you on. So, why the hell am I even bringing it up? Although the film itself may be a dud, the too-many-cooks story of how this disaster came to be, which includes appearances from two icons of American filmmaking, still fascinates me to this day.

Supernova’s script had been around since the early ‘90s, back when it was called Dead Star and screenwriter William Malone pitched it as “Dead Calm in space.”  The script was heavily written and Australian filmmaker Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper) was attached to direct, but he dropped out – citing “creative differences,” of course – two months before shooting. 

MGM brought in genre legend Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs.) to save the film. After all, who better to helm this intergalactic horror show than the man who produced Alien? If you’ve seen that film (which I’m assuming MGM execs didn’t), you know that Hill makes genre films that delve into dark, dirty and existential territories. His vision for Supernova was bleak, complete with graphic violence, gruesome special effects and a grim ending. Hill practically shoots this thing like it’s a claustrophobic neo-noir, with minimal master shots and close-ups of characters’ faces partially covered in shadows. (This usually happens when they’re hiding something.) 

When the studio wanted to screen-test the assembly cut, Hill relented. The film wasn’t done yet and Hill needed $1.5 million for reshoots and visual effects. MGM refused and eventually held the assembly-cut screening, which the audience predictably hated. Hill had enough and quit the project, demanding that his name be taken off the credits and replaced with the approved-by-DGA nom de guerre Alan Smithee. (The alias was getting phased out at the time, forcing Hill to come up with the action auteur-sounding Thomas Lee.)

MGM called on some directors to step in the editing booth and salvage this mess. Horror director Jack Sholder (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, The Hidden) did a cut that had a positive test screening. However, the new executives who took over MGM/UA during this time weren’t feeling it.

Things truly got wacky when MGM board member Francis Ford Coppola got $1 million to come up with his cut. The director of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and — sweet Jesus! — Megalopolis deleted most of the gnarly scenes in favor of sexing the movie up, which is what the studio wanted. One scene that’s his is the first zero-gravity love scene, which is actually a shot from the other zero-gravity love scene. Coppola digitally altered the bodies, darkening Tunney’s skin to make it look like Bassett and Spader are floating and getting it on.

Even though test-screening audiences didn’t dig Coppola’s cut, a tired MGM just wanted to get rid of it; they even attempted to sell it to another studio. Ultimately, MGM set up a release for January 2000, a time when many studio disappointments were laid to rest. The hilariously gaslighting trailer paints the movie as a rowdy space adventure, complete with party-starting needle drops like Sugar Ray’s “Fly” and Three Dog Night’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come.” Closing line: “If you can’t stand the heat … get out of the universe.”

Those who bothered to review Supernova (MGM held no press screenings for it) thought it was junk. It did get a glowing review from notorious contrarian critic/Hill fan Armond White, who said “the picture surprises and jolts like the best rap records used to.” (Um, OK.) The film does have a few modern-day fans–Collider’s April Nicholes slipped it in her list of the most underrated sci-fi flicks of the 2000s. But if the convoluted story of Supernova is eventually going to form a cult of appreciation, it’s still in its infancy.

In his book A Walter Hill Film: Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill, film critic/Hill enthusiast Walter Chaw appreciates what Hill was going for before MGM made him quit. From Chaw’s perspective, Supernova is all about how you can’t escape toxic masculinity – the movie’s true Big Bad — even in space. “Supernova is Hill’s most Nietzschean movie, the one where he finally eclipses every other masculine motivation with the corrosive problem of male sexual jealousy,” Chaw writes. “Men are dangerous children — shaved apes in spacesuits.”

Supernova may not be fun to watch, but it’s always fun talking about all the behind-the-scenes drama. I’m surprised Paul Scheer and his How Did This Get Made? crew haven’t yet devoted an episode to this monstrosity, hastily put together by a bunch of people, including two acclaimed auteurs. They tried to make an ambitious, sci-fi adventure – but what they got is a Skinemax movie set in space.

 
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