The challenges faced by the Poseidon survivors and the choices they make in some ways represent, for Petersen, a parable for life. “If you hold onto someone you might save him or maybe he will just pull you down. At what point will you decide to let go? Either way, it’s a shocking moment and nothing will ever be the same.”
The Poseidon filmmakers brought to this project a genuine fondness and respect for the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, from producer Irwin Allen and director Ronald Neame. Like that earlier film, a classic of its genre, Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon begins with the same concept and uses it as a catalyst for a fresh story. “We borrowed the idea of a luxury liner with thousands of people aboard, hit by a rogue wave on New Year’s Eve,” he explains, “and then started from scratch with an all-new screenplay and original, contemporary characters. Our story is in those characters, what they experience as individuals and as a group, and the way their journey ends.”
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