TheTwilightZone Tagged Articles at Cinematical
New to Me: Twilight Zone: The Movie
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Warner Brothers », Steven Spielberg »
I'd seen enough episodes of "The Twilight Zone" as a kid to get the gist of it - bite-sized morality tales that always came with a twist and often gave me the willies. However, I hadn't caught up with 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie until just last night.Now, I was looking for pictures to go along with my reaction when it became apparent that our own Eric D. Snider had already written about the movie at length two years back. Never content with just keeping my thoughts to myself, I've decided to instead streamline them into a nice, no-nonsense list of bullet points past the jump...
Review: The Box
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Warner Brothers », Theatrical Reviews »
Richard Matheson's original short story, "Button, Button," was a nifty little morality tale about a couple faced with a peculiar opportunity -- if they push a button in a box, they'll get a sum of money but kill a stranger in doing so. That version of the story ended with the wife pushing the button and killing her husband, a man she didn't really know. As an episode of "The Twilight Zone" in 1986, the story ended with the couple paid off and assured that the device would then go to another couple to whom they qualify as strangers. Now, Richard Kelly's The Box takes that same basic premise and spins it into a mind-bender of the most baffling degree, starting out as another "Twilight Zone"-worthy variant but eventually reaching the outer limits of both patience and reason.
Rand Ravich Will Write the New 'Twilight Zone'
Filed under: Classics », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Scripts », Remakes and Sequels »
You might have caught the news last year in one of our quick write-ups -- Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company had grabbed Twilight Zone to stretch into a feature-length movie. It's taken a year, but they've finally got a writer on-board. Variety reports that Rand Ravich, the pen behind The Astronaut's Wife and NBC's Life, will write a script for the adaptation. This won't be an episodic tale, like Twilight Zone: The Movie was all those years ago. How it will turn out, however, is anyone's guess.The show certainly covered enough themes that this could make for a wonderful film if it's done well. Fantasy, horror, science fiction... It's got all the tropes that put the bodies in the seats. Trying to steer clear of the '80s film, however, I would imagine that this would be a fresh story, and not simply the remake of episodes. So, it'll all come down to how well it's done, and whether it can live up to Rod Serling's genius.
The fan in me, who always chose the Twilight Zone marathon over Rockin Eve New Years' plans, is sitting on the fence. The possibility is there, but the reality is still so far away. Could anything compare to "The Lonely," "The Eye of the Beholder," "The Obsolete Man," or any of the other excellent episodes, not to mention the first movie?
Summit Begins the 'Countdown'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Deals », Scripts »
Picture a studio, desperate for new script idea. (What? This is news about The Twilight Zone; I couldn't help myself.) The Hollywood Reporter announced that Summit Entertainment (Resident Evil) has put the sci-fi thriller Countdown on the fast track to production. The movie is based on a classic episode of The Twilight Zone titled Death Ship, by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Michael Brandt (Wanted) will adapt the script along with Derek Haas, and also take over directing duties. Some of Brandt and Haas' other projects include 3:10 to Yuma and 2 Fast 2 Furious. Death Ship centered on three astronauts who discover a mysterious spacecraft while exploring the galaxy for hospitable planets. When they stumble upon a wreckage of a ship identical to their own, they are left to try and discover what exactly has happened. If you ever spent a lot of time watching TV late at night, or you are a Zone aficionado, then you can probably guess what happens next. If not, I won't spoil it -- especially since, at this point, we have no idea how much Brandt and Haas are planning on changing in the original story.
The film had originally been slated for production in 2005; Summit was planning on producing the film along with Mandalay Entertainment. Now that Summit has become a fully functioning and independent studio, they will be producing Countdown on their own and the deal with Mandalay has gone out the window. Countdown is tentatively scheduled to go into production later this summer. They have already projected a budget of around $30 million, but so far no names have been attached to star. Stay tuned to Cinematical for any updates that come our way.
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