The “Halloween” auteur co-wrote “Dark Star” with another genre legend in the making —\u00a0Dan O’Bannon, who later created “Alien.” Back then, O’Bannon was just\u00a0another University of Southern California classmate of Carpenter’s, but he wore many hats on the production and even played the role of Pinback in the movie \u2014 and any fan of “Alien” will recognize many motifs, settings and even production design choices in “Dark Star” that O’Bannon would later recycle for the screenplay of that iconic film.<\/p>\n
The movie follows the crew of the title spaceship, who are participating in mankind’s attempt at colonizing the far reaches of space by blowing up planets deemed too volatile to land on. Unfortunately for them, the vessel itself –along with everyone aboard \u2014 is falling apart at an alarming rate due to the endless duration of the journey. When one of their sentient bombs decides to detonate itself, the squabbling gang is put to the test.<\/p>\n
Read more: 10 Awful Movie Adaptations That Should Have Never Happened<\/a><\/p>\n John Carpenter called Dark Star his Waiting For Godot John Carpenter on the set of “Dark Star” (1974) – Archive Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n “Dark Star” wouldn’t be widely distributed until 1979 \u2014 after both Dan O’Bannon and John Carpenter had attained success elsewhere \u2014 but Carpenter worked on it doggedly during the early ’70s. He ended up expanding the movie from a short into a feature, shooting it in a piecemeal fashion as he accrued more funds. The film got a limited release in 1975, but was not well-received initially.<\/p>\n Carpenter still looks back on\u00a0“Dark Star” with fondness, admitting he created it as a loving genre homage. “I’ve loved science fiction since I was a kid. And some of the film was paying tribute to the old science fiction films… the beach ball alien was like the ’50s rubber monsters running around,” he confessed to The British Film Institute<\/a>. Carpenter also infamously referred to the film as “‘Waiting for Godot’ in outer space” in a 1974\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/a> interview. “It seemed very appropriate to try to wrap the movie in something that would make people want to see it,” he told\u00a0Gilles Boulenger for his book “John Carpenter:\u00a0The Prince of Darkness.”<\/a>\u00a0“And ‘Waiting for Godot in outer space’ was the best made-up I could come up with.”<\/p>\n Decades later, “Dark Star” has become a cult classic, adored by\u00a0Quentin Tarantino and referenced by one of the most rewatchable sci-fi shows of all time<\/a>,\u00a0“Red Dwarf.”\u00a0\u00a0Not bad for a movie that was made for under a million dollars and was never intended to be seen by anyone outside of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. It goes to show what ambition can do \u2014 and how important it is to keep your eyes on the stars.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, sign up to our free newsletter<\/a> for the biggest movie and TV news delivered straight to your inbox. You can also add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/55215113195b780ce31accfb9b7dfb9c.jpeg\"\/)
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