Summary

• The disaster movie genre peaked in the 1970s with films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, but declined after the 1980 failure of Paul Newman's When Time Ran Out.
• The 1990s saw a revival of disaster movies with Twister and Independence Day, with improved visual effects and star-studded ensembles.
• Paul Newman regretted starring in When Time Ran Out, a film he made purely for the money, and there's an unconfirmed rumor he used his salary to fund Newman's Own food company.

Paul Newman's follow-up to The Towering Inferno was such a profound bomb it all but killed the disaster movie genre for nearly two decades. Movies like Jaws and Star Wars changed cinema forever, and shaped the modern-day obsession with effects-driven blockbusters. The 1970s also saw disaster the forgotten Airport movie franchise combined cutting-edge effects with A-listers like Charlton Heston, Gene Hackman and Burt Lancaster.

The reviews for these movies were typically mixed to dreadful, but they also pulled in healthy box office. What's interesting about this period is the disaster movie bubble burst almost as fast as it began. Allen's The Poseidon Adventure is seen as the film that kicked the disaster trend off in earnest, but the dreadful 1979 sequel Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (starring Michael Caine and Sally Field) feels like the one that brought it all crashing down.

When Time Ran Out Was Paul Newman's Spiritual Sequel To The Towering Inferno

The Towering Inferno is a classic of the disaster genre

Allen followed up The Poseidon Adventure's success with 1974's The Towering Inferno. This was fronted by two of Hollywood's biggest names Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, but the ing cast also featured Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, William Holden and more; basically every time a new character is introduced, they are played by a famous face. The Towering Inferno's incredible spectacle and starry cast would propel it to nearly $140 million worldwide (via The Numbers).

Paul Newman & Steve McQueen feuded over billing in Towering Inferno, leading to one of the first instances of "staggered" billing. This saw McQueen's name billed lower left on the credits while Newman's was featured top right, so both could be considered top billed depending on the direction their names are read.

Newman would reteam with Allen on 1980's When Time Ran Out, a spiritual follow-up to The Towering Inferno. That said, Newman was contractually bound to another Allen movie, and while he wasn't excited by When Time Ran Out, he did it to fulfill his obligations to the producer. The movie's plot involves a resort on a remote Pacific Island being threatened by the sudden eruption of a volcano, with a group of survivors trying to escape in the aftermath.

When Time Ran Out collected all the familiar tropes of the Allen disaster picture; big name stars overcoming a natural disaster, gruesome deaths and lots of effects. The film also had Allen's biggest budget at $20 million, but his formula had wrung itself dry by 1980. Critics were never kind to Allen's work, but When Time Ran Out's 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes underlines its dire reception.

When Time Ran Out's Box Office Failure Signaled The Death Of The Disaster Movie

The disaster genre went very quiet following this 1980 flop

In the same way Heaven's Gate's failure killed the Western for much of the 1980s, When Time Ran Out's performance did the same for the disaster movie.

Considering When Time Ran Out's price tag, the film should have featured incredible effects. Sadly the opposite was true, as it had abysmal visual effects even by the standards of the era. When Time Ran Out grossed less than $4 million (via The Numbers) at the box office, and was quickly forgotten in the aftermath. If the disappointing tallies of Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and 1978's The Swarm hadn't already indicated audiences had grown tired of the genre, When Time Ran Out's total failure made it impossible to ignore.

In the same way Heaven's Gate's failure killed the Western for much of the 1980s, When Time Ran Out's performance did the same for the disaster movie. It was slim pickings for genre fans for the next decade, and even the occasional outing like cult classic Miracle Mile underperformed. The decade saw studios put an increasing emphasis on effects-driven fare, including the Star Wars sequels, Aliens or Ghostbusters, but the formulaic offerings of the Airport series or Irwin Allen blockbusters were pushed to the side during the 1980s.

Paul Newman Regretted Starring In When Time Ran Out

Wait, did When Time Ran Out help fund Newman's Own?!

During a 1998 interview with Larry King (via CNN), Newman touched on a number of topics, including the secret to his long marriage to Joanne Woodward. He also briefly touched on career regrets and cited his wooden performance in the 1954 "epic" The Silver Chalice as one of his worst. While Newman didn't cite When Time Ran Out by name, he told King it was the only film he made purely for the money and he wasn't a fan.

There were a couple. I did one movie for money. In 40 years, I guess. Fortunately I can't the name of it. But it was an adventure film about volcanoes and everything. I don't care to talk about it.

There's an unconfirmed rumor that Newman took his salary for When Time Ran Out and used it to fund Newman's Own in the years that followed. This was the star's food company, which donated the bulk of its earnings to charity. If true, this means he at least found the positive in starring in a film he evidently wasn't a fan of.

When The Silver Chalice was about to air on television during the 1960s, Newman placed an advert in a trade paper apologizing for his performance and urging viewers not to watch it. His move backfired, as The Silver Chalice had surprisingly strong ratings when it aired.

Independence Day And Twister Revived The Disaster Genre During The 1990s

Disaster movies came back in a major way during the 1990s

After being dormant for much of the previous decade, the 1990s saw disaster epics being dusted off. This revival began with 1996's Twister, which may have lacked major A-list stars but still featured incredible effects and setpieces. The film was a huge success, and was followed by Independence Day. Roland Emmerich's Independence Day copied the Irwin Allen formula, bringing together a starry ensemble (including Will Smith and Bill Pullman) and surrounding them with cutting edge effects.

The gap between When Time Ran Out and Independence Day had seen the quality of VFX improve vastly, and soon there was no stopping the disaster movie wave. 1997 saw not one but two volcano movies in Dante's Peak and, ummm, Volcano, while competing asteroid films collided in 1998 with Deep Impact and Michael Bay's Armageddon. Emmerich also became the Irwin Allen of a new era, transforming into the unofficial disaster movie auteur.

Since the 1990s, Roland Emmerich's movies have included disaster blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and the belated sequel Independence Day: Resurgence. The failure of Emmerich's Moonfall in 2022 suggests his reign has come to a close, though the legacy sequel Twisters could still give the genre a shot in the arm. Whatever happens, barring a When Time Ran Out-style failure, the disaster genre likely won't be taking another decade-plus break from the big screen again.

Source: The Numbers, Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers, CNN