In 2047 the spaceship Event Horizon reappears in orbit around Neptune, seven years after vanishing on its maiden voyage. The crew of the rescue vessel Lewis and Clark, led by Captain Miller, is sent to find out what happened. Aboard is the ship's designer, Dr. William Weir, whose experimental gravity drive promised fast interstellar travel by folding space itself. As the team explores the wreck, they begin to suffer hallucinations that bring their deepest fears and regrets to the surface.

How it was made

Philip Eisner developed the story in the early 1990s, and Andrew Kevin Walker later rewrote the script. After Mortal Kombat, Paul W. S. Anderson wanted a darker, more visceral project and accepted Paramount's offer. Finding the first draft too close to Alien, he and Eisner reshaped the story with influences from Solaris and Hellraiser. Principal photography took place entirely at Pinewood Studios in England, from November 1996 to March 1997, as an American-British co-production with an estimated budget of 50 to 70 million dollars. Paramount tightened the schedule, and after test audiences reacted badly to the graphic content, the 130-minute cut was trimmed to 96 minutes.

Reception and legacy

Critics were largely unimpressed, often calling the film superficial and derivative. It was a box-office disappointment, taking in 47.1 million dollars worldwide, and its parent company, Viacom, wrote it off as a major loss. Commentators have blamed its late-summer release against Men in Black and marketing aimed at science fiction fans rather than horror audiences. Over time it found a cult following on home video, has been reappraised, and has influenced many later science fiction and horror films and video games.