Treading Past 'Waterworld'

One year after his clashes with Kevin Costner set him adrift, Waterworld director Kevin Reynolds is back — on dry land — shooting 187 for Mel Gibson's Icon Productions. Samuel L. Jackson plays a teacher who returns to the classroom one year after an attack by a troubled student. ''I'm sure people are going to be looking for parallels,'' says Reynolds. ''But no, that's not why I responded to it.'' The film (the title is gangsta slang for murder) is a far cry from Reynolds' epics Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Rapa Nui. ''Someday I'll do something logistical again,'' he says. Someday. The director is touchy about uttering the W-word. Asked 187's budget, he says only, ''It's obviously much, much, much, much lower than — whatever 'the last one' was.''