# When Worlds Collide
**[When Worlds Collide](https://www.edgepedia.org/when-worlds-collide-1951-film)** is a catastrophe science fiction novel by Edwin Balmer and [Philip Wylie](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-wylie), first published as a six-part serial in *Blue Book* magazine from September 1932 to February 1933 and as a book by Frederick A. Stokes in 1933.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wylie_philip) • [2](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22944111M/When_Worlds_Collide) It tells of two rogue planets detached from their own solar system and heading into ours, one on a collision course with Earth, and of a small group of scientists who build a spacecraft to carry a chosen few to safety. The novel sold over half a million copies, was followed by the sequel *After Worlds Collide* in 1934, and was filmed by producer George Pal in 1951 in a version that helped spark the science fiction movie boom of the 1950s.[3](https://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/154903/edwin-balmer-philip-wylie/when-worlds-collide) • [4](https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/When_Worlds_Collide.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Authors | Edwin Balmer (1883–1959), an engineer and editor of *Redbook* (1927–1949), and Philip Wylie (1902–1971)[5](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20250227) |
| Publication | *Blue Book* serial, September 1932–February 1933; book by Frederick A. Stokes, 1933[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wylie_philip) |
| Sales | Over half a million copies[3](https://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/154903/edwin-balmer-philip-wylie/when-worlds-collide) |
| Plot device | Two rogue planets, Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta, enter the solar system; Earth is destroyed[4](https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/When_Worlds_Collide.html) |
| Sequel | *After Worlds Collide* (1934), serialized November 1933–April 1934[6](https://oro.open.ac.uk/99356/1/AB%20d4%20July%202024.pdf) |
| Film | George Pal, 1951, Paramount; Oscar-winning special effects; made for under $1 million[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide) |
## The novel
The story opens with the discovery that two planets have been torn loose from their own solar system and are hurtling toward Earth, one on a direct collision course.[8](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20211215-dont-look-up-the-fiction-that-reflects-our-greatest-fear) An astronomer, Sven Bronson, is central to the effort to confirm the threat and respond to it.[9](https://books.google.com/books/about/When_Worlds_Collide.html?id=wTunCwAAQBAJ) As the larger world draws near, tidal waves, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions devastate continents and cities; in central North America, a team of scientists races to build a spacecraft able to escape to one of the approaching worlds, while their greatest threat comes not from the skies but from other humans.[10](https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803298149/when-worlds-collide/)
The two interlopers are named Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta.[4](https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/When_Worlds_Collide.html) Kirkus's 1933 review described the premise plainly: the world is startled by scientists announcing that extinction will come in two years from a collision with a planet hurtling out of space, and called it "the stuff of which best-sellers are made".[11](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/rearden-conner-2/when-worlds-collide/)
## Authors
Philip Wylie wrote other speculative fiction including *Gladiator* and *The Disappearance*, as well as the nonfiction *A Generation of Vipers*.[10](https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803298149/when-worlds-collide/) Edwin Balmer was an engineer who also wrote detective stories and speculative fiction.[10](https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803298149/when-worlds-collide/) He edited *Redbook* from 1927 to 1949 and later became associate publisher, and he collaborated with Wylie on a comic strip, *Speed Spaulding*, based on the novel.[5](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20250227) • [9](https://books.google.com/books/about/When_Worlds_Collide.html?id=wTunCwAAQBAJ)
## Sequel
*After Worlds Collide* follows the survivors to the new world, Bronson Beta, where they find cities built by a vanished civilization. It first appeared as a six-part monthly serial in *Blue Book* from November 1933 through April 1934.[6](https://oro.open.ac.uk/99356/1/AB%20d4%20July%202024.pdf)
## The 1951 film
While George Pal was in production on *Destination Moon* (1950), he bought the rights to the novel from Paramount, which had seen little potential in science fiction.[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide) Paramount had originally acquired the book for [Cecil B. DeMille](https://www.edgepedia.org/cecil-b-demille), who intended to direct a version titled *The End of the World*; that production was canceled after the release of RKO's *Deluge* (1933), which was seen as too similar.[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide)
The film changes the celestial cast: the two planets become a rogue star, Bellus, which destroys Earth after a sequence of earthquakes, lava flows, tidal waves, and forest fires caused by the gravity of its planet, Zyra, to which the survivors escape in a rocket sometimes read as a [Noah's Ark](https://www.edgepedia.org/noahs-ark).[12](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/can-planets-collide-each-other) • [7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide) There is room aboard for only forty-odd people.[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide) Special effects artists Gordon Jennings and Harry Barndollar worked from ideas by Chesley Bonestell to create the Oscar-winning effects, incorporating significant stock footage to keep costs down, and the film was made for under $1 million.[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide) Critics rated the picture on its effects more than its dialogue: Variety gave top honors to the cameramen and special effects technicians rather than the non-name cast, and the film's Metacritic score stands at 47 from six critic reviews.[13](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/when-worlds-collide/) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 81 percent Tomatometer from 26 reviews and a 64 percent audience score.[14](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/when_worlds_collide)
## Influence
Reading the novel or watching the film shows how many enduring tropes of impact stories were already in place: the shocking scientific discovery, the authorities alerted, the sadness and panic, the riots and looting, the high-tech plan for survival, the reference to Noah, and the many forms of denial.[8](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20211215-dont-look-up-the-fiction-that-reflects-our-greatest-fear) The book is frequently described as one of the most popular and influential end-of-the-world novels.[10](https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803298149/when-worlds-collide/) Later disaster fiction adopted its global montage, last-minute departure, and the view from the departing craft, and astronomy writing still reaches for the novel when describing planetary collision research.[15](https://utoread.com/reviews/when-worlds-collide-review/) • [16](https://www.astropublishing.com/1FAM2020/files/assets/common/downloads/1FAM2020.pdf)
The novel also anticipated scientific interest in rogue planets, bodies adrift between stars; astronomers only confirmed the existence of such a free-floating world by direct measurement in recent years, finding a Saturn-sized planet roughly 10,000 light-years from Earth.[17](https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/astronomers-detect-rare-free-floating-exoplanet-10-000-light-years-from-earth) Real planetary collisions are likewise part of accepted science: the Moon is thought to have formed when a Mars-sized body struck Earth and threw crust and mantle material into orbit, and [James Webb Space Telescope](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-webb-space-telescope) observations of extreme debris disks now study young systems in which worlds collide.[12](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/can-planets-collide-each-other) • [18](https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/worlds-collide-james-webb-space-telescope-investigates-what-happens-when-planets-crash-together)
## References
1. [Wylie, Philip, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wylie_philip)
2. [When Worlds Collide, Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22944111M/When_Worlds_Collide)
3. [When Worlds Collide, first edition, L.W. Currey](https://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/154903/edwin-balmer-philip-wylie/when-worlds-collide)
4. [When Worlds Collide, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (David Darling)](https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/When_Worlds_Collide.html)
5. [When Worlds Collide, Distributed Proofreaders Canada / FadedPage](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20250227)
6. [When Worlds Collide (1933) by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, Open Research Online](https://oro.open.ac.uk/99356/1/AB%20d4%20July%202024.pdf)
7. [When Worlds Collide, Jeremy Arnold, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1559093/when-worlds-collide)
8. [Don't Look Up: The stories that reflect our oldest fear, BBC Culture](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20211215-dont-look-up-the-fiction-that-reflects-our-greatest-fear)
9. [When Worlds Collide, Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/When_Worlds_Collide.html?id=wTunCwAAQBAJ)
10. [When Worlds Collide, University of Nebraska Press](https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803298149/when-worlds-collide/)
11. [When Worlds Collide review, Kirkus Reviews, 1933](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/rearden-conner-2/when-worlds-collide/)
12. [Can Planets Collide with Each Other?, National Air and Space Museum](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/can-planets-collide-each-other)
13. [When Worlds Collide Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/when-worlds-collide/)
14. [When Worlds Collide, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/when_worlds_collide)
15. [When Worlds Collide Review, UtoRead](https://utoread.com/reviews/when-worlds-collide-review/)
16. [Free Astronomy Magazine, January–February 2020](https://www.astropublishing.com/1FAM2020/files/assets/common/downloads/1FAM2020.pdf)
17. [Astronomers detect rare free-floating exoplanet 10,000 light-years from Earth, Space.com](https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/astronomers-detect-rare-free-floating-exoplanet-10-000-light-years-from-earth)
18. [Worlds collide! James Webb Space Telescope investigates what happens when planets crash together, Space.com](https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/worlds-collide-james-webb-space-telescope-investigates-what-happens-when-planets-crash-together)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Science fiction (literature) › Science fiction works*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license