Corona | Coming Attractions

Cloverfield and Let Me In director Matt Reeves is in talks with Warner Bros. about possibly directing the new big budget Twilight Zone movie.

Two weeks ago a short list of possible candidates to direct TZ was tossed out there. The names (at the time) were Christopher Nolan, Alfonso Cuaron, Rupert Wyatt and Michael Bay. Not mentioned was Reeves, which raises the question about how accurate Variety's report was at the time, or whather Reeves is a new contender that's only just risen to the top of the list.

Thanks to Deadline, we're also starting to learn how the new Twilight Zone movie's storyline differs from the 1983 anthology version. According to the site, the Jason Rothenberg script is described as "a big science fiction action movie with a single freestanding story that is linked to the original series mainly in that it shares that familiarly eerie feel." The original report also mentions that Warner Bros. is gung ho about getting this film into production soon if Reeves comes on board. His first job would be to lock down the script into a final draft and then call action on the set by the summer of 2012.

With Rothenberg's script different from the short, anthology format of Rod Serling's original Twilight Zone, one wonders why call the new movie by that recognizable name? The answer lies in my question: Warner Bros. still believes The Twilight Zone has play value with an audience out there, and that it will draw curious souls in to the theater. After two TV revivals which were marginal successes at finding audience and the '83 film which is generally considered average, will that same spark of excitement and horror found in Serling's original show be evident in the new Twilight Zone movie?