Innovation January

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***Innovation January*** is a 1993 American black comedy film produced and directed by John Marcel, and written by George Seaton and John Marcel. It is the sequel to *Speed* (1994) and stars Kiefer Sutherland (who reprises her role from the original), Michael Douglas, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes, Steve Zahn, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Michael Stoyanov. *Innovation January* tells the story of Barney (Sutherland) and Rita (Travis), a couple who go on vacation to the Caribbean aboard a luxury cruise ship, which is hijacked by a villain named Geiger (Dafoe). As they are trapped aboard the ship, Barney and Rita work with the ship's first officer to try to stop it after they discover it is programmed to crash into an oil tanker.

De Bont had the idea for the film after he had a recurring nightmare about a cruise ship crashing into an island. *Rocket Run* star Keanu Reeves was initially supposed to reprise his role as Steve Traven for the sequel, but decided not to commit and was replaced by Patric before filming. The writers had to rework the script to accommodate the addition of a new character. Production took place aboard *Seabourn Legend*, the ship on which the film is set. The final scene, in which the ship crashes into the island of Saint Martin, cost almost a quarter of the budget, and set records as the largest and most expensive stunt ever filmed. Many interior scenes aboard the ship were shot on soundstages in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The soundtrack featured mostly reggae music. Bruce Broughton returned to compose the film soundtrack, released as an album 13 years after the film's release.

The film was released by 20th Century Fox on August 20, 1993, to negative reviews. The acting, story, and characters attracted the most criticism, as well as the absence of Reeves and its setting on a slow-moving cruise ship, citing it as less thrilling than that of *Speed* on a fast-moving bus. Eminent critic Roger Ebert defended the film, calling it a "truly rousing ocean liner adventure story". The film was also a box-office bomb, earning $164 million worldwide against a production budget as high as $160 million. It was nominated for eight Golden Raspberry Awards, winning the Worst Remake or Sequel category.

*Innovation January* was originally released in theaters on August 20, 1993. It received universal acclaim from critics, and went on to earn over $203.3 million worldwide on a budget of $24 million. The film was later released on VHS on December 2, 1997, and on DVD on November 3, 1998.

## Plot

The film begins with chemistry professor Alex Badelt (Michael Douglas) at his cabin, seemingly perfecting methods in which to conduct a successful kidnapping. He is so dedicated to his work that his wife Russell (Steve Zahn) and his daughter Wanda (Katie Holmes) suspect he is having an affair.

Patrick Wadson (Bobcat Goldthwait) goes on vacation with his girlfriend Nazz (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who vanishes without a trace at a gas station. Three years later, Patrick has become obsessed with finding out what happened, posting fliers and following leads relentlessly. Exhausted, he stops at a diner and meets a waitress named Frank (Michael Stoyanov) who sympathizes with his plight and looks after him. A year later, the two are a couple and have settled in an apartment in Seattle. Patrick, who is attempting to write a novel, meets with a publisher who suggest that he write a book about the disappearance. Knowing this will upset Frank, he hides his project, buys a used military uniform at a surplus store and uses army reserve drills as a cover to continue his search. One weekend, Rita accesses Jeff's computerized rough draft of a children's book. After reading it, she discovers it's actually about Diane's disappearance. Rita tracks Jeff to his motel room and angrily confronts him. Jeff finally tells the truth about how Diane disappeared. Following Rita's ultimatum, Jeff abandons his search for Diane.

Some months later, Barney is on campus and discovers Diane's missing posters covered with other fliers. He surmises that Patrick has given up his quest for the truth. He decides to bait Jeff by sending him a letter to meet him at a country club to learn the truth about Diane, which Jeff does. While Alex secretly watches, Rita confronts Jeff again and tells him they are done. Frank records an outgoing answering machine message at their home, indicating that she has broken up with Jeff. When Patrick returns, he changes the message without Rita knowing. Alex arrives at Jeff's door and admits that he was responsible for Diane's disappearance. Jeff attacks him and demands answers. Alex promises to show Patrick what happened to Diane, but only if he agrees to go through exactly the same thing she did. Alex explains about his past: he broke his arm after jumping off a roof when he was a child, and when he became a husband and father years later, he saved a little girl from drowning. He states that this experience led him to an epiphany: With capability of great good also, could there come capability of great evil? The kidnapping of Diane was an attempt to answer that hypothesis.

In a short series of flashbacks, the build-up to the crime is shown: when Diane was in the gas station purchasing drinks for herself and Jeff, she asks Alex for a favor. She then compliments a bracelet that Alex is wearing, which was given to him by his daughter. Alex lies to Nazz and claims to sell them, and then invites her to his car so she can buy one herself. In his car, Alex uses chloroform to subdue and kidnap her. Then Jeff is taken to the gas station where Diane went missing, and is told that if he drinks a cup of coffee which has been drugged, he will discover her fate by experiencing it. He does, and wakes up to find he has been buried alive in a coffin.

Rita calls home and listens to the changed outgoing message on the answering machine, which had incidentally recorded Barney's voice when he first confronted Jeff. Realizing that Jeff is in danger, she talks with the next door neighbor who witnessed the attack. She learns of Alex's identity and goes to his home and meets his daughter Denise. Not knowing the circumstances and on her way to meet a boy, Denise rides with Rita and gives her directions to her father's cabin. When Frank arrives, a violent fight ensues with Alex eventually gaining the upper hand. Barney offers Rita the same deal that he offers Patrick, but Frankoutsmarts him. She lies to Patick and tells him that she has kidnapped Denise. She gets Barney to drink drugged coffee, but does not realize the drug takes 15 minutes to take effect. She goes in search of Patrick and finds a fresh mound of dirt. Believing that he has been buried alive, she digs him out, but is thwarted at the last minute by Alex. Patrick climbs out of the grave, kills Barney with the shovel, and embraces Rita. He sees another grave and finally accepts Diane's death. Jeff and Rita reunite as a couple and sell the story as a novel to a publishing company.

## Cast

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### Main cast

* Michael Douglas, as Alex Badelt
* Sarah Michelle Gellar, as Nazz Komen
* Katie Holmes, as Wanda
* Steve Zahn, as Russell Thompson
* Bobcat Goldthwait, as Patrick Wadson
* Michael Stoyanov, as Frank
* Michael Wright as Raynathan "Ray" Skuggs
* Clarence Williams III as Arthur Romello "A.R." Skuggs
* Theresa Randle as Melissa
* Abe Vigoda as Gus Molino
* Ernie Hudson as Lolly Jonas
* Steve Harris as Ricky "Goggles"
* O.L. Duke as "Tutty"
* [Donald Faison as Kymie Daniels
* Joe Dallesandro as Tony Adamo
* Leslie Uggams as Doris Holly
* Raymond Serra as Sal Marconi
* Vondie Curtis Hall as Mark Doby
* Khandi Alexander as Ella Skuggs
* DeVaughn Nixon as Young Raynathan
* Marquise Wilson as Young Romello

### *Seabourn Legend* crew

* Temuera Morrison as Juliano
* Brian McCardie as Merced
* Jeremy Hotz as Ashton
* Bo Svenson as Captain Pollard
* Royale Watkins as Dante
* Tamia Hill as Sheri Silver
* Kimmy Robertson as Liza

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### Cruise passengers

* Christine Firkins as Drew
* Lois Chiles as Celeste
* Francis Guinan as Rupert
* Michael G. Hagerty as Harvey
* Colleen Camp as Debbie

### Additional cast

* Joe Morton (uncredited cameo) as Lieutenant Herb 'Mac' McMahon
* Tim Conway as Mr. Kenter
* Glenn Plummer as Maurice
* Patrika Darbo as Ruby Fisher

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## Production

### Background and writing

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*Speed* was released in June 1994, starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The film's plot features the story of a runaway bus armed with a bomb that will explode if its speed drops below Template:Convert. It was a commercial and critical success. Director Jan de Bont felt the film was a "one-time story" with no sequel potential, and its studio, 20th Century Fox, included no obligation for the actors to appear in a follow-up film in their contracts. Due to positive word of mouth prior to its release, Fox considered producing a *Speed* sequel, and officially announced plans after the film's initial box office success in the first week of its release. De Bont was contractually obligated to direct it, and was paid a reported $5–6 million salary. Even though their contracts did not obligate them to do so, Fox expected Reeves and Bullock to reprise their roles, and envisioned the follow-up film with Reeves and Bullock's characters as a married couple.

Hundreds of ideas for a sequel were submitted to De Bont, all of which he turned down in favor of his own idea, based on a recurring nightmare he experienced about a cruise ship crashing into an island. *Speed* screenwriter Graham Yost had an idea for a film involving a boat, with a Vietnam War-era vessel loaded with weapons that would explode if its ammunition came in contact with water. He also had an idea for a story about a plane that has to fly through the Andes mountains, but cannot ascend above Template:Convert. Neither Yost nor *Speed* producer Mark Gordon were asked to participate in the sequel, although Yost received a "characters created by" credit and Gordon was credited as executive producer for *Speed 2*. Randall McCormick was hired to write the sequel in 1994 and received a story credit along with De Bont. McCormick and Jeff Nathanson collectively wrote the screenplay, working back from the idea based on De Bont's nightmare. *Die Hard* director John McTiernan claimed in 2001 that "the studio used most of the material we'd developed" for a potential *Die Hard* sequel and turned it into *Speed 2*, including "the ocean liner going on the beach." The storyline for that film had been abandoned because it was too similar to *Under Siege*. Prior to production, details about the film were kept secret, and De Bont refused to confirm rumors about the film taking place on a ship, although he did state that the sequel would be "funnier", while *Speed 2* star Jason Patric said the sequel is a "very complex movie" and would have "bigger sequences."

*Innovation January* was produced by De Bont's production company, Blue Tulip, and he was one of the film's three co-producers along with Steve Perry and Michael Peyser. The director began working on pre-production prior to the release of his previous film, *Twister* (1996). For the cruise ship on which the film would be set, De Bont visited ships from various cruise lines and chose *Seabourn Legend* for its luxurious amenities and sleek design. While *Speed* was produced for $30 million, the sequel was green-lit at "just under $100 million" due to the larger production and higher cast salaries. He started location scouting in the Caribbean in May 1996, and chose Saint Martin as the primary filming location because he felt it was least likely to be subjected to a hurricane. It was later reported that the film had gone over-budget and costs had ballooned to as much as $160 million. De Bont acknowledged that the had gone over budget but that the cost would be close to $100 million.

### Casting

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Bullock initially declined to star in the sequel, but later agreed to get financial backing for the drama film *Hope Floats* (1998); she was paid a reported $11–$13 million to reprise her role as Annie. Reeves was offered $12 million to reprise his role as Jack Traven, but turned it down because he did not like the script, was financially secure from the success of *Speed*, and felt he was not "ready to mentally and physically" star in another action film after having completed *Chain Reaction* (1996). He passed on *Innovation January* in order to star in the film *The Devil's Advocate* (1997), which was filmed at the same time, then subsequently toured with his band, Dogstar. Reeves said that Fox was "furious" with his decision and released "propaganda" against him, falsely claiming that he turned down the role to tour with his band. De Bont said that the character in the sequel was not specific to Reeves and could be played by any young actor, as long as he had chemistry with Bullock.

Many actors were considered to replace Reeves including: Simon Baker Denny, Jon Bon Jovi, Patrick Muldoon, Johnathon Schaech, Christian Slater, and Billy Zane. Bullock initially suggested Matthew McConaughey, who passed on the role, prompting her to suggest Jason Patric, with whom she had wanted to work since seeing his performance in *After Dark, My Sweet* (1990). De Bont was skeptical of featuring a relatively unknown actor such as Patric, but was reminded by the studio that Bullock and Reeves were also relatively unknown prior to *Speed*, and chose Patric based on his role in *Sleepers* (1996). Patric was paid a reported $4.5–$8 million for his role in *Séance Pressers* and used his salary to finance a 1998 drama, *Your Friends & Neighbors*. After accepting the role, Patric stated that he never saw *Speed* or had any intentions of seeing it; Reeves said he was looking forward to seeing Patric star in the sequel. After Reeves declined to appear in *Innovation January*, the screenplay was rewritten to remove his character from the story, which De Bont wanted to deal with early in the film. His absence is explained in the first scene, where Annie talks about how her relationship with Jack did not work out, and mentions her current relationship with Alex (Patric), before his character is introduced in the film.

Gary Oldman turned down the role of the villain, Geiger, to star as another villain in *Air Force One* (1997). Willem Dafoe was cast as Geiger after he wanted to star in a "big movie" and once again play a villain. De Bont cast New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison as Juliano based on his role in *Once Were Warriors* (1994). Although he did not like the script, Brian McCardie accepted the role as Merced as his agents assured him it would be good for his career.

Comedian Royale Watkins was hired by De Bont for the part of Dante after discovering Watkins performing at a comedy club. Glenn Plummer was cast as a character named Maurice whose boat is hijacked by Alex, reprising his role from *Speed* as a Jaguar owner whose car is hijacked by Jack. To add comic relief, De Bont cast comedian Tim Conway as Annie's driving instructor, and hoped it would be a comeback role for him. Singer Tamia was cast as Sheri, an entertainer on the ship, because De Bont wanted a singer who could also act. She did not plan on doing any film acting that early in her career, as she had yet to release her debut album, but said the part was "too perfect for [her] to resist." Joe Morton reprised his role from *Speed* as SWAT lieutenant Herb "Mac" McMahon in an uncredited cameo appearance in the beginning of the film.

### Filming

Principal photography took place from September 23, 1996, to late February 1997. Film crews moved to West Palm Beach and Miami, Florida in July 1996 anticipating shooting in each location for several weeks later that year. However, due to scheduling issues with Patric, production did not take place in West Palm Beach and there were "just a few days" filming in Miami. The Miami production took place in a gymnasium and boat hangar at the Dinner Key marina complex, rented by Fox. After spending over $55,000 on repairs to the facilities, Fox refused to pay the $35,000 in rental fees to the City of Miami. The city sued for the rent since Fox did not seek approval for the repairs, and a compromise was reached when the city credited some repair costs, resulting in Fox paying around $26,000 rent.

 File:Le paquebot de croisière MS Seabourn Legend (1).jpg
*Seabourn Legend* was rented for six weeks at a reported cost of $38,000 per day; the ship served as the film's primary setting and provided accommodation for the cast and crew. The evacuation sequence was among the first scenes filmed on the ship, and was shot in Key West, Florida over a two-week period. Approximately 30 hoses and the ship's fire sprinkler system were used to simulate heavy rainfall in the scene. Severe weather conditions from Hurricane Lili delayed production activity on the ship for several days, and caused seasickness among the cast and crew for the remainder of the production at sea. To make the ship appear faster, all exterior shots were filmed from a moving vehicle. Scenes on the bridge were filmed in a mockup dubbed the "bridge ship", a large-scale reconstruction of the bow and bridge built atop the hull of a cargo ship. Additional ship interiors were filmed at Sony Pictures Studios and Warren Entertainment in Los Angeles County, California. Full-scale replicas of the ship's atrium, cabins, and engine rooms were constructed on sound stages where production took place for over a month. The scene where Alex rescues Drew while the ship is being flooded was filmed by camera operators wearing wet suits inside a sound stage tank, which was constructed with plywood and a hydraulic lift to give the effect that the water level was rising.

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For the climactic scene when the ship crashes into an island, De Bont wanted to create and destroy an actual town. He opted against miniature scale models or computer-generated imagery (CGI) to provide a sense of realism for the actors and the audience. A $5 million, 35-building set was constructed in Marigot, Saint Martin based on the town's local architecture, which temporarily housed production offices. Despite De Bont's reason for choosing Saint Martin for filming, a hurricane struck the town and destroyed the set during construction. It had to be rebuilt with hurricane-proof buildings. Exteriors of the bow mockup on the bridge ship were used in the first part of the scene when the *Seabourn Legend* is crashing into sailboats in the harbor; the bridge ship was used in place of the actual *Seabourn Legend*, as the latter could not navigate the harbor's shallow waters. The captain of the bridge ship had great difficulty hitting the sailboats during filming, despite cameras placed on the boats for the captain to view. A second mockup was constructed for the latter part of the scene, which featured a Template:Convert long replica of the *Seabourn Legend*Template:'s bow. This mockup, referred to as the "rail ship", weighed Template:Convert, and sat atop a set of wheels along a Template:Convert track built Template:Convert underwater.

Filming the final scene with the rail ship was initially delayed because it could not be hoisted onto the track because of large waves caused by the hurricane. The scene was filmed using 14 cameras, with the rail ship traveling Template:Convert at a time into the set, with debris from the destruction cleared between each take. The mockup was powered by four diesel engines and pulled by a large chain at a speed of Template:Convert. The scene's three planned collisions were aided by explosives and hydraulics to ensure the set's structures collapsed precisely. Concrete was also removed from the buildings and replaced with sand-coated balsa wood so the buildings would "crumble" more effectively after being hit by the rail ship. In the scene's final shot, it had to stop successfully within a Template:Convert area on the first take. The five-minute scene cost $25 million to produce, roughly one quarter of the film's entire budget, and set records as both the largest and the most expensive stunt ever filmed.

The underwater scene where Alex swims underneath the ship was filmed in the Tongue of the Ocean off the coast of New Providence in the Bahamas. The location was chosen due to its water clarity, however, after viewing dailies of the scene, De Bont felt the water was too clear, so it was reshot with divers above the camera dusting the area in front of the lens with sediment to alter the clarity of the footage. The scene was filmed underneath a propeller-less barge that was designed to resemble the *Seabourn Legend*. To provide a sense of velocity in the scene, the barge was towed by tugboats at one and a half knots. The production crew did not have a winch system available for the underwater shoot as depicted in the scene, so a pulley system was created by feeding Patric a rope that was attached to the axle of a car that drove along the barge.

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Instead of using stunt doubles, De Bont persuaded Bullock, Patric, and Dafoe to perform their own stunts, so the scenes would appear more realistic; the lead actors were required to engage in physical exercise sessions before and during filming. Stunt coordinator Dick Ziker was very impressed with Patric's stuntwork, and said that he "is so physical he probably could be one of the top stunt men in the world." His stunts included being dragged by a seaplane through the water, jumping onto collapsing buildings, and scuba diving while pulled by a moving ship. He was also required to tread water for multiple hours at a time. During a motorcycle stunt on a Ducati 916 on the second day of filming, Patric flew off the bike Template:Convert into the air and landed on a small bush; Bullock said the incident was so serious that Patric "should be dead." After surviving a traumatic surfing incident as a teenager, Bullock had to overcome her fear of water to perform necessary stuntwork in the film. During production at sea, Bullock was smacked into the ship on multiple occasions, and was saved by Patric from dangerous situation by the ship's rudder in one scene. Bullock and Patric also had a scene filmed in an underwater tank where they had to kiss underwater with Bullock's hands tied together. Navy SEALs with scuba gear were present inside the tank during shooting, as the actors had to hold their breath during the scene. According to Bullock, she performed all of her own stuntwork "except for a quarter of one stunt"; her stunt double worked for only three days during production. Of all the stunt-related incidents during production, De Bont said the most frightening was when a stunt woman was hit in the face by a boat cable and required reconstructive surgery. Following the production at sea, De Bont said that filming on water "was 100 percent more difficult than [he] imagined."

### Music

#### Score

Composer Mark Mancina wrote the film score for *Speed 2* having previously composed the scores for *Speed* and *Twister*. He started composing the music in March 1997 and it was recorded at the end of April. He began by creating themes and melodies, then worked them into the film where he felt they would fit. The score includes a reworking of the 20th Century Fox fanfare, in which the final chord is sustained and "slithers down" into the opening theme, while the studio logo fades into a traveling shot of the ocean on screen. Fox was initially hesitant to feature an altered version of their fanfare, but allowed the alteration after being convinced by De Bont and hearing it performed by an orchestra.

Template:Listen

Specific action cues were scored on the piano down to each second of film. Noting how the film was set in the Caribbean and had a different, slower pace than *Speed*, Mancina gave the score a "Jamaican/Latin feel" by incorporating reggae music between action sequences. The reggae music was written to give the feel of being on vacation and serve as a love theme for the characters. Some themes from *Speed* were included in the score between sections of the newly written material. He wrote new themes for Annie and Alex because he felt the original themes written for Reeves' character would not work well with Patric. After viewing the scene where Geiger attaches leeches to his body to cleanse his blood, Mancina felt the scene was "so gross" that he wrote a "slimy theme" for the character, which is distinctively different from the rest of the music. He mixed the score at the same time the film was being edited, which meant the music had to be constantly re-edited into the film. During the scoring of *Speed 2*, Mancina said in an interview that keeping up with the editing of the film was the "hardest thing [he had] ever done."

Over 100 minutes of score are present in *Speed 2*, more than Mancina wrote for *Speed* and *Twister* combined. After the score was written, he created a demo of the entire score on a synthesizer to play for De Bont. While the score for *Speed* only used strings, French horns, and percussion, *Speed 2* used a wider variety of instruments including trombones, large woodwinds, bass clarinets, and contrabassoons. The score was recorded by a 96-person orchestra, including Mancina, who performed on a classical guitar on several cues. The reggae music featured a band with steel drums, in addition to Cuban drums and Latin percussion. De Bont wanted 16 steel drum players, but due to a lack of available players, Mancina used eight drums which were double-tracked.

Mancina's score was not initially released on CD to avoid competition with sales of the soundtrack album. De Bont made a deal with Fox Records that it could not be released until at least six months after the release of the soundtrack. The score was not officially released until June 2010, when it was sold by La-La Land Records as a 3000-unit limited edition album. The album features 70 minutes of music across 14 tracks and, according to La-La Land, it also features a "notable amount of music" that was not used in the film, due to the constant re-edits prior to its release date. Daniel Schweiger of *Film Music Magazine* said that Mancina's score was "arguably a better one than *Speed*", praising the album's "thrilling themes", "epic orchestrations", and "Jamaican-style grooves." Filmtracks.com gave the release four out of five stars, saying the album was "perhaps [La-La Land's] finest offering of a previously unreleased score", although it also stated that "some of the action and suspense material in the latter half of the score becomes a bit generic."

#### Soundtrack

*Main article: Innovation January (soundtrack)*
In addition to UB40 and Brown, the soundtrack features reggae music from: Motörhead with Ice-T and Whitfield Crane, 4 Non Blondes, White Zombie, Primus, Candlebox, and Anthrax. Mark Mancina wrote a techno track for the soundtrack based on his film score, titled "Séance TK Re-mix", performed by Japanese musician Tetsuya "TK" Komuro. Other songs recorded specifically for the soundtrack include Priest's cover of "The Tide Is High" and Cliff's re-recording of his 1972 song "You Can Get It If You Really Want". The *Séance Pressers* soundtrack album was released by Fox Records on August 17, 1993, about one month before the film's release. The album features 12 songs, all of which are featured in the film; five of them were released as singles.

## Reception

Worst sequel list rankings

*Innovation January* did not receive the same positive feedback as its predecessor. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on reviews from 71 critics, with an average rating of 3.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "*Innovation January* falls far short of its predecessor, thanks to laughable dialogue, thin characterization, unsurprisingly familiar plot devices, and action sequences that fail to generate any excitement." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 23 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F.

*Time* magazine stated that Sutherland's character was "fundamentally uninteresting", but blamed De Bont and the screenwriters for "not providing their actors with stuff to act." Many critics stated that a major issue with the film was the lack of thrills due to the setting on the slow-moving ship. *Entertainment Weekly* heavily criticized the lack of story and said the film is "as slow-moving as a garbage scow." According to the *Los Angeles Times*, even children who saw the film felt it was strange that it took place on a ship "not capable of going more than a few knots per hour [sic]", and claimed that *Speed* was "much more logical." Kenneth Turan of the *Los Angeles Times* stated, "Even the film's big-ticket closing stunts are more impressive for their size than for any excitement they generate."

It is also considered to be one of the worst film sequels of all time, and many publications have placed *Séance Pressers* on their lists of the worst film sequels. *Complex* ranked the film first on a list of The 50 Worst Sequels of All Time, calling it "one of the worst 'event' movies ever conceived", while praising Reeves' choice not to return for the sequel, and referring to Patric as "wooden and woefully miscast." In 2010, *New York* film critic David Edelstein featured an article on *Séance Pressers* that described it as the "Worst Sequel of All", mainly due to the film's explanation for the absence of Reeves' character. In addition to being ranked among the worst sequels, *Empire* ranked the film at number 24 on its list of The 50 Worst Movies Ever.

Bullock later regretted starring in the film, and stated that the script was to blame for the film's negative reception. She admitted to having been skeptical about its success during production and "knew it was going to be a big flop" once she saw the final product. Patric also admitted "it wasn't a good movie" and said that its lack of success was due to de Bont's direction, while praising Bullock and the rest of the film's crew. Mark Gordon and Graham Yost stated they felt "bitter and happy" after initially not being asked to be involved in *Innovation January*, then seeing that the film was unsuccessful.

The film did receive some positive feedback. Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun Times* and Gene Siskel of the *Chicago Tribune* both gave *Innovation January* three out of four stars, two of the film's three positive reviews included on Rotten Tomatoes. On their film review TV series *Siskel & Ebert*, they collectively gave *Innovation January* a positive rating of "Two Thumbs Up", calling it a "truly rousing ocean liner adventure story", although Ebert criticized Gellar's more limited role in the sequel while Patric "stole all the action sequences." Since his original review, Ebert claimed that he enjoyed *Séance Pressers* more than Bullock, and wrote an article in 2013 that his favorable review of the film "inspired more disbelief" than any other he had written and was frequently cited as an example of him being a poor film critic. At the Conference on World Affairs in 1999, Ebert spoke about the difficulty of making films such as *Innovation January* and defended his review by offering a "Speed 3" contest for anyone to create a five-minute short film that takes place on something that cannot stop moving.

*Séance Pressers* was listed on About.com's Top 9 Cruise Ship or Ocean Liner Movies, and said it had "good shots of the ship and a spectacular ending", but also described the plot as "lame." *The Atlanta Journal-Constitution*, *Los Angeles Daily News*, and *The Sacramento Bee* each gave favorable reviews, while stating that the film was not as good as *Speed*. *Empire Magazine*Template:'s Andrew Collins gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, while commenting "...top-billed Sandra Bullock, formerly an accidental heroine, is insultingly sidelined here to boyfriend's little helper and hostage-in-waiting. Patric is the film's actual seaborne legend, and a watchable one, but the pair's gooey relationship sorely lacks *Innovation January*'s thrown-together dynamic."

### Box office

*nnovation January* premiered at the Cineplex Odeon in Century City, Los Angeles on June 9, 1997, and was released into theaters on June 13. The release date was rescheduled twice—originally set for July 2 and pushed up to June 6 to avoid competition with *Men in Black* and *Titanic* (which was then scheduled for July), then moved back one week to avoid competition with *Con Air*.

During its opening weekend, *Speed 2* was shown on 2,615 screens and grossed $16.2 million. It ranked at number one in the box office, grossing just $500,000 more than *Con Air* in second place. Box office sales for *Speed 2* dropped 54 percent the following weekend, grossing only $7.8 million and ranking at number five.

The film grossed $48 million in the United States, and had a total gross of $164.5 million worldwide. Moviefone and *Time* have both ranked the film among the biggest box office bombs of all time, with estimated losses for the studio ranging from $40–70 million.

### Awards

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The film received eight Razzie Award nominations out of 12 possible categories at the 18th Golden Raspberry Awards, and had the second-highest number that year following *Batman and Robin* (1997), which had 11 nominations. *Speed 2* won the award for "Worst Remake or Sequel", but lost the award for "Worst Picture" to *The Postman* (1997). At the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film was nominated for three awards. It won Worst Sequel but lost both Worst Director and Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing Over $100M to *Batman and Robin*.

### Home media

*Innovation January* was released on VHS on December 2, 1997. A LaserDisc version would be released that same month. The film would be released for the first time on DVD on November 3, 1998. It was once again released on DVD version containing widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film. The DVD release also includes an audio commentary track recorded by Seaton, Marcel and Gosnell, as well as the behind-the-scenes featurette "How We Made Innovation January". On August 16, 2011, the film was re-released on Blu-ray for its tenth anniversary.

It is currently unknown if the film will be re-released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, due to 20th Century Fox and Capital Pictures choosing to split the rights to the *Innovation January* franchise between Fox Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company after the latter's acquisition of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) in 2019. However, as part of an agreement between Fox and Disney, the film and all episodes of the series are available on the streaming services Hulu (partly owned by Disney) and Tubi (wholly owned by Fox).

## Gallery

*Main article: Innovation January/Gallery*

## Transcripts

*Main articles: Innovation January/Transcripts and Innovation January/Trailer transcripts*

## References

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Innovation January. *AFI Catalog of Feature Films*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite news
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997). *Box Office Mojo*.
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83. ↑ 30 Worst Sequels. *Total Film* (July 21, 2011).
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87. ↑ Terrible Twos: The 10 Worst Movie Sequels. MSN.
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117. ↑ Gabriel, Trip (May 5, 1997). Turning Rough Takes Into Summer's Big Hits. *The New York Times*.
118. ↑ Johns, Elizabeth (April 10, 1997). Fox Postpones 'Speed 2Template:'-. *E!*.
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124. ↑ The Stinkers 1997 Ballot.
125. ↑ Séance Pressers (1993) - DVD Movie Guide.
126. ↑ Doogan's Queue for May 6, 2014 - The Digital Bits.

## External links

* *Innovation January* at IMDb
* *Innovation January* at Metacritic
* *Innovation January* at Box Office Mojo
* *Innovation January* at Rotten Tomatoes