John Travolta’s career- and Scientology’s prospects- diverged in the late 1980’s. Travolta became box office Poison, pretty much not getting any work after 1985. While Scientology would lose its founder, its successful yet misleading Dianetics volcano ad campaign would route a ton of interested people into its orgs. The granting of a religious tax exemption in the United States would send the atomic age religion into the stratosphere. It seemed like the time was right for a mainstream Scientology film, though the only person in Hollywood who seemed interested in bringing Battlefield Earth to the screen was in no position to do it. That would change in 1989.
Signing up for Scientology? Might as well throw your money in a volcano!
With the help of fellow Scientologist Kirstie Alley and the voice talents of Bruce Willis, John Travolta would regain his blockbuster star status with the sleeper hit Look Who’s Talking, a film in which he would take second billing to a talking baby. While Look Who’s Talking would give him the hit he needed, 1994’s Pulp Fiction would cement his resurgence, giving him a bit of indie cred and alerting the world that he was back on top. At this point, Travolta could make any project get a green light just by signing onto it. How would he choose to use this recovered power? To finally try to get his passion project made. By this time, Travolta realized that he was too old to play Jonnie “Good Boy” Tyler and was aiming to play the villainous Terl. Travolta desperately told anyone who would listen that Battlefield Earth would be “better than Star Wars” and referred to it as “Pulp Fiction in the year 3000.”
In Mexico, they call Scientology ‘Locos Pendejos’
While most every studio was willing to make just about any film John Travolta wanted to be in, they wanted nothing to do with Battlefield Earth. Travolta allegedly enlisted his fellow Scientologists to flood studio executives with letters about how amazing a Battlefield Earth film would be. The creepy campaign had the opposite of its intended effect. By 1995, however, Travolta’s star power would be too much for Hollywood to ignore. MGM signed him to a deal in which Battlefield Earth would finally get produced. Or so he thought. MGM got cold feet and sold the project to Twentieth Century Fox who eventually shelved the project for the same reasons that caused MGM to eventually pass on it. The project was seen as being too expensive, too outdated and too insane. In 1998, the project’s fortunes would change. Upstart production company Franchise Pictures would pick up the project and give it a green light. Finally, Travolta’s dream would come true. Or would it?
Who wouldn’t want to be badgered about making a film by these people?
