It’s easy to blame Disney for anything that goes wrong in the realm of pop culture, but there are two ironclad reasons why the Mouse House should be pelted with tomatoes over the fate of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
For one thing, Peter Weir’s seafaring epic arrived in theaters mere months after the Mouse House’s own swashbuckling blockbuster of 2003, and being known as “the thinking man’s Pirates of the Caribbean” didn’t quite play out in the long run, especially with all of the key creatives hoping the literary adaptation would mark the beginning of a potential long-running franchise.
On a budget of $150 million, Master and Commander could only set sail towards $210 million at the box office, before going on to score 10 nominations at the Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. It did manage to win two for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing, which was an impressive achievement in itself when you consider it lost the other eight to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Russell Crowe held out hope for a sequel to be willed into existence for years, only for Disney to hammer the final nail into that coffin as well, when it was announced an episodic prequel was in the works via subsidiary 20th Century Studios. In the 20th anniversary year of Master and Commander, though, it’s clear the film is more popular than ever.
A Reddit thread has underlined the sentiment towards the awe-inspiring aquatic adventure, with a combination of being overshadowed by Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow and the belief that “It’s the kind of movie you start loving when you reach your mid 30s” holding an ironically accurate amount of water.
It didn’t get any sequels, but a long-lasting legacy will have to do instead.