Event Horizon’s director is going back to space horror — with two movies at once

Paul W.S. Anderson, the man responsible for Event Horizon all the way back in 1997, is officially veering back into the same territory that made his name. After more recent stints directing a whole bunch of Resident Evil films, Anderson is returning to what he does best: solid sci-fi horror, pulled straight from a new pair of novels that have actually been inspired by his own earlier work. Sometimes life really does come full circle.

Cosmic Horror, Round Two

Anderson’s latest target is the Nether books, a duology from Kevin J. Anderson (no relation, but yes, marginally confusing for journalists — cheers for that, lads). These books, titled Nether Station and Nether Vortex, landed in the early 2020s, and have now been picked up for back-to-back film adaptations.

Nether Station and its sequel will be directed by Anderson, with Jonathan Wakeham writing the scripts and regular Event Horizon producer Jeremy Bolt once again on board.

If it hasn’t rung a bell yet, Kevin J. Anderson is best known in genre circles for spinning out Star Wars and Dune novels, which got him a pile of award nominations. This dip into cosmic horror, though, is very much its own beast — and just to add a bit of trivia, K.J. Anderson named Event Horizon specifically as a creative influence. The two Andersons, despite their oddly parallel careers, have never actually worked together before this.

The Story (And Why It Matters)

The heart of the Nether books is Cammie Skoura: a young scientist joining an interstellar team investigating the 'Nether anomaly' — basically a wormhole in deep space, with all the existential nightmare fuel you’d expect. The crew finds remnants of a mysterious, vanished alien civilisation, with the tone leaning hard into cosmic dread. The book’s tagline pretty much nails the mood: 'Space is vast. Space is full of wonders. Space is terrifying.'

Speaking about the upcoming adaptation, Kevin J. Anderson said, 'I couldn’t imagine a better director for this project than Paul W.S. Anderson.'

It’s a pretty natural fit, really: Anderson’s knack for turning dense genre writing into brisk, visually distinctive films is already proven — and the fact that his own film helped inspire the source material gives the project a very neat loop. For the people actually making the film, there’s already a bit of a mutual admiration society. Paul W.S. Anderson’s gone on record as being an admirer of the author’s work, and has spoken positively about the world-building and horror in the books, particularly the unique perspective brought by having Cammie Skoura at the centre.

• Paul W.S. Anderson returns to sci-fi horror, adapting two recent novels inspired by his own cult classic.
• Scripts by Jonathan Wakeham, who will be adapting both books for the big screen.
• Jeremy Bolt, producer of Event Horizon, will produce the new films as well.
• The two Andersons have never previously worked together, despite a few decades in the same genre sandbox.