Director Paul W.S. Anderson is not interested in being part of an Event Horizon sequel. Sequels and reboots are en vogue at the moment, with Event Horizon not immune to the nostalgic pull of revisiting old properties.
Upon its original release in 1997, Event Horizon, starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, failed to move the needle, despite its intriguing science fiction horror premise. Plagued by production issues and a massive cut to the film’s runtime, the movie made just $26.7 million at the box office, less than half the budget of the movie. In the two decades since the movie’s release, however, a cult following has developed for Event Horizon, as well as a desire to find some of the footage that wound up on the cutting room floor.
Even with this renewed energy, Anderson appears to be on the outs with any potential continuation. The filmmaker recently told ComicBook, “I didn’t really have any interest in returning to the world of Event Horizon.” Anderson expressed pride in the original product, even though it didn’t quite live up to his original vision due to studio demands (Paramount is at fault there). He also expressed concern about ruining the original picture by being involved with a sequel. Anderson’s full comment can be read below:
That’s not something I’m involved in. I didn’t really have any interest in returning to the world of Event Horizon. I’m immensely proud of the movie we made. And especially because when the movie was released, I felt it didn’t get a fair shake. I don’t think it was really perceived critically or commercially as well as I thought it could have been. And then slowly over time, it’s really built a very avid following and I’m immensely proud of that. And, for that reason, I didn’t want to go back to the same world and ruin it for anybody. I want to leave it alone because I’m really proud of what we did. And I want to just let that stand, because I think it’s become a stronger piece of work over time. In many ways … it’s funny, the things that maybe handicapped us when we first released the movie, the fact that it doesn’t tie up all the loose ends, there are ambiguities in the story, but it’s something you can discuss and talk about. Those were weaknesses at the time, but I think they have been strengths over time and I didn’t want to go back and answer all the questions presented by the movie, you know?
Whether Anderson wants to be involved or not, the world of Event Horizon is circling back towards a new life once more. Last year, Paramount and Amazon reportedly began working on an Event Horizon television series based on the movie. The project is set to be helmed by horror director Adam Wingard – who is currently working on Godzilla vs. Kong – and will retain some of the original movie’s producers; there’s no timeline in place on when that television series may come to life.
As for Anderson, he’s plenty busy on his own. He’s currently wrapping up work on Monster Hunter, a fantasy action film based on the video games series that should hit theaters ahead of the new year. He also welcomed his third child with wife Milla Jovovich earlier this year. It would’ve been nice to see him join the future of Event Horizon, but his disinterest in doing so should only fuel more fascination with the original 1997 film. Having the original visionary on board for the future of the franchise could be beneficial, but it seems Anderson is perfectly content working on other projects right now.
