Matthew McConaughey's Sahara Came Out 20 Years Ago, And I Need Someone To Hear My Plea

It’s hard to believe that Sahara, starring Matthew McConaughey as the intrepid explorer Dirk Pitt, was released 20 years ago. The movie, the second book-to-film adaptation from the Dirk Pitt book series by Clive Cussler, was a critical and commercial failure, reportedly losing a substantial amount of money. It was also, to date, the last time a Cussler novel was made into a movie, and I’m here to beg for more. Though I realize it’s a long shot. Here’s my plea.

I’ve Read All The Dirk Pitt Novels

I started reading the Cussler novels about Dirk Pitt when I was a teenager. The series started in 1973 with The Mediterranean Caper, and it is still going today, with Clive Cussler's The Corsican Shadow being the most recent release in 2023. Clive Cussler died in 2020, and the series has been continued by his son, Dirk. He'd started by co-writing the books with his father, starting with 2004’s Black Wind.

Over the years, I’ve read them all, having started devouring them in high school when I was big into scuba diving. I loved James Bond, and Dirk Pitt was just like Bond, but American, and a little cooler, and all the books were about the ocean and featured a lot of diving. Sahara, I remember, was one of the first in the series that I read. It was the first new book to be released in the series after I discovered it, and I even got the hardback edition. I loved it.

I Actually Really Like The Movie

Although the movie was a huge bomb and critics hated it, I loved it. It wasn’t a perfect adaptation, but I still think it was great. I think McConaughey is great, and was a solid choice for the role, though it does predate the "McConaissance." The film does a decent job of capturing the spirit of Pitt, at least. It’s a really fun book, which makes the movie a fun ride, and it includes a lot of the recurring things in the books that make Pitt, Pitt. Things like classic early 20th-century cars, for example.

As I said, though, it’s not perfect. While I think Steve Zahn is good in the movie, he is physically nothing like Al Giordino in the books. Giordino is Pitt’s trusty sidekick in the series, and is described as a short, stout Italian. Not exactly Steve Zahn’s look. Sandecker is played by William H. Macy, which works for me. Rainn Wilson, whom I love, doesn’t work for me as Rudi Gunn, another recurring character in the book series.

Clive Cussler Was Notoriously Prickly About Adaptations

The first Dirk Pitt novel to get an adaptation of any kind was Raise the Titanic!, which was adapted in 1980, starring Richard Jordan as Pitt and Jason Robards as Admiral James Sandecker, Pitt’s boss in the series. It bombed at the box office, just as Sahara would 25 years later. Cussler reportedly hated the film and swore he’d never let another one of his books become a movie ever again. At least, until Sahara, and that didn’t go well, either.

When Cussler signed the deal for that adaptation, he insisted on a fair amount of creative control. Because the book series was so popular, and movie producers had long been salivating to try to turn it into the next James Bond series, Cussler had a lot of leverage. Or he thought he did, anyway. After the deal was signed, Cussler immediately had issues with the movie.

The Lawsuits Started Before The Movie Was Even Made

Numerous lawsuits went back and forth between Cussler and the studio, Crusader Entertainment, during and after the production and release of Sahara, with Cussler once again swearing off adaptations of his books. He accused Crusader of not consulting him on the script, and Crusader counter-sued over the author fudging the numbers of his book sales.

Ultimately, Cussler lost the initial lawsuit, but later won back some of the monetary award. A planned adaptation of Inca Gold fell apart after the suit, and there has never been a hint of another adaptation of the popular series. With Cussler’s death, some fans hoped maybe his family would be more open to the idea, but as of yet, it seems they are honoring his wishes that his books not be made into movies.

Please Bring Dirk Pitt Back To The Bg Screen!

I know I’m not alone in wishing for a return of Dirk Pitt to the movies. The books are perfect for adaptations. They are full of adventure and fun alternate history. If it were in the right hands, there is no reason this couldn’t be a huge franchise on the same level as Bond and Indiana Jones. Hollywood understandably likes proven IP, and this is certainly that.

There are, to date, 27 books in the series, so there are plenty of great treasures to mine here. They’ve sold somewhere between 42 and 100 million copies, though sales info is sketchy as Cussler often inflated the numbers (as the lawsuit proved). It’s a ton of books, no matter what the actual number is. Honestly, it seems like a no-brainer, at least from a fan’s perspective.

This Is All Probably A Pipe Dream

Ultimately, I don’t think there will be another Dirk Pitt movie, at least not in the short term. Too much bad blood emerged from the previous two adaptations, but at least Sahara, which is available with a Prime subscription, is starting to be re-evaluated from the initial beating it took from critics and audiences. It still only holds a 53% on the audience popcorn meter on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has gained a small cult following.

Hope springs eternal, though, and with media companies still jockeying for more and more content, who knows, maybe one of the best streamers or production companies will swoop in with an offer the Cussler family can’t ignore.