SAHARA IS NOW ON DVD!

Click the image to buy it or click here to visit the official site.

When we first started the Unofficial Dirk Pitt Movie Poll, we were sure it was a pipe dream. When the poll first began almost seven years ago, Clive Cussler had made it abundantly clear that - unless he saw full cast, script and director approval - there would never be another movie based on his books. "Raise the Titanic" was disaster enough.

But someone gave Cussler those approvals and, now, the first Dirk Pitt movie, "Sahara" (no, we don't count "Raise the Titanic," either), was finally completed and released.

The process was a rocky one. Cussler fans weren't 100% sure about Matthew McConaughey starring as Pitt, and they were even less sure about Steve Zahn as Al Giordino. The film was directed by a fledgling feature film director, Breck Eisner, who has only done commercials and a television movie in the past but has in his corner Mike Eisner, his father, who knows a thing or two about showbiz. The screenplay, which Cussler rejected and later sued the production company over, is credited to at least four screenwriters and that's only those whose names are approved by the WGA ... many others contributed. The phrase "too many cooks" came immediately to mind.

A famous entertainment lawyer once said that a good film is never made intentionally - it's always a matter of luck. Sounds cynical, I know, but he made a good point. If there was a formula to making good movies, why isn't every movie good? And, of course, it isn't the rumors that matter but the final results.

"Sahara" was released in April, 2005 and, despite mostly bad reviews (Rotten Tomatoes rates it a 39%, with 96 of the 157 film reviewers listed giving it the thumbs down) went on to gross almost $69,000,000 in the U.S. and another $52,000,000 internationally. Not too shabby, but not what you can call a blockbuster, either ... especially with a budget estimated at $130,000,000.

Will there be another film in the Dirk Pitt franchise? It seems the success of the DVD will be the answer. "The Bourne Identity," starring Matt Damon grossed over $120,000,000 in its U.S. theatrical run (generating another $92,000,000 internationally) and its sequel, "The Bourne Supremacy," only came to be after the first film's DVD sales went through the roof. And the budget of "The Bourne Identify" was only $60,000,000 or less than half that of "Sahara." 

So, with over 120 million Clive Cussler books in print and "Sahara" now on DVD, we still can't help but wonder what the fans think about the new Dirk Pitt film, "Sahara." So we've re-tooled the Unofficial Dirk Pitt Movie Poll yet again to get your thoughts.

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