Did you know that for a time, the most expensive film ever made wasn’t in movie theaters,
it was in Epcot?
To be clear, I’m talking about the most expensive film on a per minute basis, and
for a while that title went to Captain EO.
So, where did Captain EO come from and why was it so expensive?
Captain EO, more than just an attraction, was meant to be symbolic.
You see it was the first attraction to be developed under Disney’s new leadership
which was comprised of CEO Michael Eisner and COO Frank Wells.
They had taken the reins of Disney during a time where the company was fairly stagnant,
which was financially hurting them.
While this didn’t really align with his approach to the film industry, one tactic
that Michael Eisner was extremely interested in for the parks was turning to talented individuals
outside of Disney to work with on projects.
Among those individuals was director and producer George Lucas.
Eisner had hoped that Lucas would partner with Disney and help with developing attractions
for the parks.
At the same time, another talent that Eisner wanted to collaborate with on an attraction
was the king of pop, Michael Jackson.
Having just released Thriller a few years prior, he felt that Michael Jackson would
successfully be able to win over the attention of teenagers, a demographic that Disney historically
struggled with.
Disney struck a deal with Lucas, who also happened to be a Disney fan, and in February
of 1985 at a shareholder meeting, Disney announced that they were partnering with LucasFilm to
develop a number of attractions including one based on the Star Wars franchise.
That ride, Star Tours, would take a couple of years to develop, however in the meantime
work quickly began on one of the other attractions.
Shortly after, Imagineering was given one week to come up with different concepts for
an attraction.
At the time the only input they were given was that it had to involve George Lucas, it
had to involve Michael Jackson, and it had to involve 3D.
The team came up with not just one concept, but three.
On the day of the pitch they first presented all three concepts to Eisner and Wells, who
eventually scrapped one of the three ideas.
Later that day they’d meet with Lucas to present the other two.
He would end up going with a concept called “The Intergalactic Musical Man”, in which
Jackson played a space captain who travels to a cold and drab planet and eventually convinces
the evil queen who rules over it that life is better with warmth, music, and dancing.
With an idea picked out, Lucas then took the next step of finding a director.
While he had directed in the past himself, he had decided that he was happier as a producer,
so he turned to long-time friend and critically acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola.
Coppola agreed, and for his first act as director he immediately had the title of the project
changed.
Wanting to reference Eos, the Greek goddess of light, the project was retitled to Captain EO.
So why was Captain EO so expensive?
Well that June, just three months after the initial announcement, Coppola began filming
Captain EO in Culver City, California.
Wrapping in August, the shoot was short, however it wasn’t free from problems.
For one, Coppola wasn’t accustomed to shooting in 3D, which required a special camera rig
that in turn effected how sets needed to be lit.
On top of that, Michael Jackson would often keep the details of his dance routines to
himself, sometimes up until the very day of filming, which presented its own production
issues since typically everything on a film set is planned out far in advance.
At the same time, Eisner had grown smitten with Imagineering, and as a result he insisted
that they be involved with the production as much as possible.
As it would turn out, when Imagineers were brought on for aspects such as set design
and construction, they charged the going rate that they often used for outside clients who
hired them as consultants.
Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to get the rate lowered, but was ultimately unsuccessful,
forcing him to try and look for outside contractors.
While Katzenberg had the budget on his mind, Eisner uncharacteristically did not.
He was normally pretty frugal when it came to projects, but money was no object for Captain EO.
At one point the attraction’s designer asked if the entire theater’s ceiling could be
raised in order to eliminate an obstructing beam, and it was OK’d with virtually no
hesitation.
This was going to be the first real attraction opened under Eisner’s leadership.
To him and Wells, this was more than just a show.
It would be setting the tone for years to come in regards to what the world could expect
from their partnership.
It had to be perfect.
If that wasn’t enough, Lucas would occasionally drop in on the production and insist on changes
that would often require costly reshoots or completely redoing special effect shots that
were being created by his special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been as much of an issue if he was more present during production,
but he was distracted at the time.
He was in the middle producing the cinematic masterpiece, Howard the Duck.
Between the expensive process of shooting in 3D, the reshoots, and the new effects,
the budget for Captain EO quickly ballooned to $17 million dollars.
With a final runtime of 17 minutes, it came out to around a million dollars per minute,
making it the most expensive film, per minute, at the time.
For comparison Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 and Heaven’s Gate in 1980 both cost
in the 40 million dollar range, putting their per minute cost around $200,000.
So, is it still the most expensive film on a per minute basis today?
No.
Not even close.
Thanks to the growing trend of big-budget tentpole films, without adjustments for inflation,
it doesn’t even crack the top ten list.
With inflation?
Well, still no, but it gets a lot closer.
With an adjusted per-minute cost of $2.2 million dollars, it would be number three on the list.
Coincidentally it’s beat out by two other Disney films, with the next most expensive
being Tangled at $2.8 million per minute and the most expensive being Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides at $2.9 million per minute.
In any case Captain EO would premiere in September of 1986, just 15 months after it began production.
While the attraction wouldn’t find much critical praise as a film, often being called
a glorified and expensive music video, it would ultimately become a well received Disney
attraction, running for 6 years in Disneyland Paris, 8 years in Disney World, 9 in Tokyo
Disney, and 11 years in Disneyland.
It would later reopen in all four parks following the passing of Michael Jackson.
Captain EO symbolized a lot for Disney.
It was the first attraction attributed to the leadership of Eisner and Wells.
It was the first major collaboration with talents on the level of Lucas and Jackson.
It was established a new pace at which Imagineering and Disney Parks could move to create a new
attraction, and it showed the shareholders of Disney that a new era of the company was
truly about to begin.
And all it cost Disney was a million dollars a minute.