Explorers (film)

Explorers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoe Dante
Written byEric Luke
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Hora
Edited byTina Hirsch
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 12, 1985 (1985-07-12)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20–25 million[2][3]
Box office$9.9 million[4]

Explorers is a 1985 American science fantasy film written by Eric Luke and directed by Joe Dante. The film stars Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, both in their film debuts, and Jason Presson as young teenage boys who build a spacecraft to explore outer space. The special effects were produced by Industrial Light & Magic, with make-up effects by Rob Bottin.

Rushed into production, the film was never properly finished. Dante revealed that the studio demanded that he stop editing and rush for a July release where it was overshadowed by the Live Aid concert, which was held one day after the film's release[5] and stiff competition from Back to the Future, which opened nine days prior. It was a box office failure upon its release, but it attracted a cult following with its VHS release.[6]

  1. ^ "EXPLORERS (U)". British Board of Film Classification. July 19, 1985. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Disasters Outnumber Movie Hits". Sun-Sentinel. September 4, 1985. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (May 19, 1985). "'Explorers'--Racing to the box office". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Joe Dante speaks about Explorers at the New Beverly - Pt 1/2 on YouTube
  6. ^ Glorieux, Thomas. "Jerry Goldsmith: Explorers". MainTitles.net. Retrieved April 4, 2014.