Event Horizon: Director Paul W.S. Anderson says Paramount thought film would tarnish Star Trek

The sci-fi/horror film Event Horizon is approaching its 25th anniversary on August 15, 2022, and the now cult classic is being looked back on by the film’s director, Paul W.S. Anderson. During a retrospective chat with Variety, Anderson said that Paramount Pictures execs were “shocked” by what they saw when he was making the film, and they were very concerned that the movie could tarnish their mainstay, Star Trek.

Anderson begins by saying he got “a lot of tough notes” while making the film, primarily due to all of the horror and some of the disturbing imagery:

“I think Paramount was a little shocked. It had all this gross horror and all these disturbing images. I don’t think anyone at the studio had really seen that stuff before because I was shooting in England. Generally, people from the studio watch what the main unit shoots, but all of the horror stuff was being done second unit, directed by me on the weekends. I don’t think anyone at the studio actually watched the second unit material, so they hadn’t seen all the impalings and all the other people getting their eyes out and the intestines. I got a lot of tough notes.”

Event Horizon follows a rescue crew in the future that are boarding a spaceship that had been missing in hopes of locating survivors. Soon they realize that someone or something new is on board, and it’s a lot more nightmarish than they could’ve ever imagined. This nightmarish imagery had one Paramount exec so concerned that they told Anderson the movie could potentially tarnish the Star Trek brand:

“Someone actually said to me, ‘We’re the studio that makes Star Trek!’ They weren’t only horrified by my movie; they felt I was besmirching ‘Star Trek’ somehow, because I was also in space and doing all this terrible stuff.”

Event Horizon wasn’t a massive hit at the box office, grossing $26.6 million domestically on a $60 million budget. Anderson and Paramount had hoped for more, but over the years, the film’s cult following has grown considerably, and it’s widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi/horror films of its kind. Anderson reveals that actor Kurt Russell, who he went on to work with on 1998’s sci-fi/action film Solider, told the director that Event Horizon would be a film that would hold up 20 years from the time of its release:

“When the movie was first released, it did okay business, but it wasn’t what I had hoped for it. I was going on to make a movie with Kurt Russell (1998’s sci-fi action film Soldier) and I showed him Event Horizon. He said, ‘Paul, in 20 years time, that’s the movie you’re going be really glad you made.’ He was right! I thought it was very generous of Kurt, considering I was about to go make a movie with him. The film was striking. It didn’t pull its punches and it was true to what it wanted to do. We didn’t have a huge amount of time to cut trailers and do posters and do a very elaborate campaign, but over time people found the movie. It’s been a wonderful experience to see the audience for it grow.”

It’s probably pretty rewarding to watch your film become a cult classic. I’m sure immediate box office success is also a very happy moment but watching something grow over time and seeing new people discover it over the years means they are actively seeking it out because they heard good things about it. I discovered Event Horizon a few years after it came out through friends, so I was one of those people, and it has become one of my favorite sci-fi films.

What are YOUR thoughts on Event Horizon?