You might have heard that Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to produce a new Twilight Zone movie for Warner Bros. In a departure from the 1983 movie, which featured an anthology format — four segments, four separate stories, four directors — there will be only one story and one director. The story, which will be inspired by an episode of the original Twilight Zone series, will be written by Rand Ravich (The Astronaut’s Wife). The director has yet to be chosen, though there is a “short list” going around that includes Michael Bay, Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and frequent DiCaprio collaborator Christopher Nolan. I’ll let the thought of a Nolan-helmed Twilight Zone movie simmer for a moment and then meet you all after the jump.
Twilight Zone: The Movie, which featured three segments based on episodes from the series and one original story, was directed by Steven Spielberg (who also produced the movie), Joe Dante, George Miller, and John Landis. (Landis’ segment, the original story, “Time Out,” was the one that ended in tragedy when its star, Vic Morrow, and the child actors with whom he worked, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed on set by a helicopter that lost control.) The critical response was mixed, mostly because the segments were judged individually, resulting in a movie that was made up of smaller movies that ranged from mediocre to good. So, the choice to stick to one storyline will probably make it hard to compare to the original movie.
Variety is saying that the candidate who appears to be the most available to take the job is Cuaron, who is currently wrapping up production on Gravity, his 3D space thriller starring Robert Downey, Jr. However, since the great success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Wyatt is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood.
While Cuaron and Wyatt would undoubtedly be great candidates, Bay would probably cause a huge backlash. Personally, I don’t think they would ultimately go with Bay anyway — his work is so far from the subtle nature of The Twilight Zone and the budget would be gigantic. (He is also prone to on-set accidents.)
But the prospect of Nolan as the director, when you consider his non-Batman movies, Memento and Inception, is very attractive. In fact, Nolan is kind of perfectly suited to direct a Twilight Zone movie, and because of his relationship with DiCaprio, he is most likely the front-runner for the job. Though the similarities with his past work might be enough to cause him to reject the project in the end.
If anyone would do Rod Serling proud, it would easily be Christopher Nolan. Seriously, that would be delicious.
(via AV Club)
Published: Oct 1, 2011 12:55 pm