Development After realizing how little of his films' proceeds he saw when working as a director for hire, Fred Olen Ray decided to branch into production. While filming
Commando Squad at
Bronson Canyon, Ray decided that the area would make a convenient central location for his first self-owned effort. He tentatively named the film
The Phantom Empire, after a classic
serial that had been shot on the same premises. But he also contemplated the titles
Back to the Center of the Earth and
Beyond the Center of the Earth to exploit an adaptation of
Journey to the Center of the Earth that
Cannon was working on at the same time. When the Cannon film ran into problems, this promotional angle was abandoned. Ray financed the majority of the budget with the proceeds of his early career, and a minority investor pitched in a further $20,000.
Casting As
The Phantom Empire's brief pre-production overlapped with the filming of
Commando Squad, the director started making arrangement with players from that movie, such as the two leads Ross Hagen and Dawn Wildsmith, who was also Ray's wife. Ray already had actors in mind during writing, and filled the cast with people he had already worked with to optimize what would be a condensed schedule. To entice Sybil Danning to participate for an affordable fee, she was given the film's German market rights. On the last day of filming (November 21, 1986), the director went around to crew members and offered them a small sum to stay after wrap and film the scene where the characters buy the treasure map, not knowing exactly when he would use it. But two days later, upon watching the
dailies with cinematographer
Gary Graver, the latter encouraged Ray to complete the movie right away, as the material looked superior to
Commando Squad and he was soon due to depart for other commitments. Ray finished his draft in three or four days, before his usual screenwriter T.L. Lankford took a pass at it.
Principal photography Principal photography proceeded very quickly on December 1, 1986, lasting only six days, albeit very long ones. One day was so busy that it required a 27-page
call sheet. Robby was outfitted with a new head made by its then owner
William Malone. The panels used for the Alien Queen's lair were recycled from
Star Slammer. This allowed the easy integration of
stop-motion battles taken from the 1977 film
Planet of Dinosaurs, which had also been shot there, to spruce up the new scenes. Laser beams were rotoscoped into the Robby the Robot sequence by Ray regular Bret Mixon. Three waves of explosives were planned for the final setpiece but the rigger accidentally detonated one before the cameras were set up, leaving a smaller blast in the final cut, but Ray was still mostly satisfied with it. ==Release==