The Jewel of the Nile was the sequel to the hit adventure comedy Romancing the Stone, and starred Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito.


Jewel of the Nile is generally regarded as being slightly weaker than its prequel, but is still a good, enjoyable film in its own right with an incredible soundtrack. There’s even a bellydancing scene with some serious costumes!

It’s been released in various different formats, including RCA’s CED Video Disc, VHS and later blu-ray. So, let’s take a look back at the movie with some facts you probably never knew…

The Jewel of the Nike poster

12. The film almost never happened

Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder and Michael Douglas as Jack Colton in The Jewel of the Nile

Kathleen Turner initially refused to appear in the film as she had had some big squabbles with the studio and producers over money in the first film, Romancing the Stone.

[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]

11. Turner didn’t like the script

Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder and Michael Douglas as Jack Colton in The Jewel of the Nile

On top of the financial issues, Kathleen Turner also did not like the script for The Jewel of the Nile, and she had initially negotiated that she would have approval of the script before it was accepted.

10. The studio sued Turner into appearing in the film

Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder and Michael Douglas as Jack Colton in The Jewel of the Nile

In the end it took some hard tactics to turn this around and get Turner on board as they had to file a $25 million lawsuit against her for breaching her contract if she didn’t appear, after which she agreed to sign on.

[adunit mobile=”RTK_wCZW”]

9. Professional jugglers appear as the extras

The tribesman juggling troupe, The Flying Karamazov Brothers: Arak, Barak, Karak, Sarak and Tarak.

The juggling troupe, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, appear in the film in the roles of the tribesmen Arak, Barak, Karak, Sarak and Tarak.

8. One of the film’s stars was killed just before it was released

Michael Douglas as Jack Colton in The Jewel of the Nile

During the production of Jewel of the Nile, the writer of the original film Romancing the Stone, Diane Thomas, was sadly killed in a car crash just seven weeks before she got to see the sequel to her film released.

[adunit mobile=”RTK_z9hm”]

7. There was an even sadder twist to the tale

Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder in The Jewel of the Nile

In a twist that makes the loss of Diane Thomas even more tragic, she was killed in a car crash in which she was a passenger in a Porsche that Michael Douglas had bought her as a thank you for her work on Romancing the Stone.

6. Three members of the crew were killed on location in Morocco

Morocco where The Jewel of the Nile was filmed

Whilst scouting locations in Morocco for Jewel of the Nile, three members of the production crew were killed in a car crash. The film is dedicated to them and to Diane Thomas.

[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]

5. The finished script wasn’t the finished script

A scene from The Jewel of the Nile

After the script was finished, the producers still were not totally happy with it, and so Ken Levine and David Isaacs did an uncredited re-write of the script, which was the finished version for the movie.

4. The three stars appeared in a music video together

Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito in The Jewel of the Nile

Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito appear in the video for Billy Ocean‘s When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going as doo-wop singers in the background.

[adunit mobile=”RTK_wCZW”]

3. The video got banned in the UK

Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito in the music video for Billy Ocean's song 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'

The video for Billy Ocean’s song was banned in the UK! There was nothing explicit in the video, but Turner, Douglas and DeVito were not in the Musicians Union and so they refused to show the video in the UK as a result!

2. It didn’t hurt Ocean’s success

Billy Ocean in the Vevo music video for his song 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'

In spite of the video being banned in the UK, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” was Billy Ocean’s first number one in the UK!

[adunit mobile=”RTK_z9hm”]

1. The film was a swansong

The Jewel of the Nile in RCA's CED Video Disc format

The Jewel of the Nile was the final movie ever released on RCA’s CED Video Disc format which was already starting to dwindle, meaning anyone who has a copy could be sat on a collector’s item!