The New Twilight Zone movie (Rumour)
 

So the word on the grapevine was that Leo DiCaprio's production company has picked up the rights and will be making a new Twilight Zone film.

Any thoughts? How should they do it? Should they modernise it or try to mimic the 50's-60's show? Should they go the route of the previous film by mostly remaking old episodes? Should it be multiple stories or just one long story?

Should they be doing it at all?

Thoughts?

It's a tough one to call...

On the one hand, I think the method of having 3/4 directors on board was the best idea for the original movie - however my issue with it was their takes on the stories. With the exception of Nightmare, the stories didn't feel right.

If I was behind the project (and bloody hell I wish I was), I'd bring on three directors and have them write their own episodes. The film would also need a Rod Serling - not just as a voice over, but as a screen presense. Which is something I also thought the 80s film was missing.

Great point, I agree, they definately need that presence again.

Especially seeing as I'm sure, like with most things these days, they'll be looking to go beyond just one movie. It would be nice to have that throughline of one person introducing each story. Back in the day I always thought of Serling as more than just a narrator, if you strip away what you know about him being the creator etc, his presence was like that of some sort of entity, or custodian from The Twilight Zone. It would be nice to see that mantle passed on to someone with a suitable presence (Not you Forest Whittaker).

As to how the movie as a whole should be presented, I'll have to give that soem thought, like you say, definately a tough one to call.

It would be nice if they do the show... if any of the show were to be modernized, the speech would have to be slightly changed (since the speech from the 1950s & 1960s have changed now).

It would have been interesting to see Spielberg's take on "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" rather than "Kick the Can". I feel that would have been a better story and more inkeeping with the other 3 stories being told. As it stands, its the weak link and sticks out badly.

I heard you mention in one of the podcasts Tom that they should set it in
1950's/60's and I totally agree. The wonders of modern film making could make this look great. You only have to look at the likes of Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire to see how well they can recreate period pieces. They could bring in current directors who have obviously been influenced by TZ. The likes of M. Night Shyamalan, Richard Kelly and J.J. Abrams to name a few. I hope this happens.

Me too!

Here's a couple of questions....

1. Who would you like to see as the narrator/host of a new Twilight Zone?

2. And (and I'm putting this out purely as a discussion point) CG can do wonderful things, and is getting better all of the time, but re-creating a convincing human seems to be just out of reach. If they could, should they re-create Rod Serling as narrator? And is it ethical to do so?

I know they kind of did this for an episode of Medium, but I've never seen it, and I can't find the clip anywhere.

what about Mark Heap? but then i recommend him for everything...

I'm pretty sure they could do it with CG. They did it in recent adverts with John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe, also with Oliver Reed as he died halfway through filming Gladiator. As long as Serling's family were ok with it I think it would work.

I don't think it would be un-ethical to CG Serling into the movie. In fact, it would probably be the best solution to the problem. No matter who you get in, no matter how good they are, they won't have that Serling charm.

If you're re-creating episodes from the original series, the dialogue will already be there and recorded so it would be the best option for me.

As Human Man said, if Carol was okay with it then it would be fine.

If not a CG Serling? I don't know who else I'd pick. If it's Leo's production company, he himself could actually be the host. He's got enough charisma to carry it and he's a great screen presense. In fact, with his face on the poster the film could do quite well.

Has anyone been on the Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland? That features a filmed intro from Serling, which I assume has been CGI enhanced, and it'a a brilliant ride. The design inside the building is fantastic.

As for this movie announcement, my question is why bother? I'd rather see someone make a new anthology film with weird and interesting stories, than trying to cash in on a long-gone TV show. They'd have to change and update so much, why not just call it something else?

It is name value I guess. It's the same with asking why a studio would bother putting out movies based off Battleships and Monopoly? Name value > Originality in the eyes of Hollywood.

However, I do want to see this - if done well.

If you're looking for an original Twilight Zone-esque series, can I suggest looking at my sig for a little series I created? :P

:clap::clap:

Good news, Especally if Nolan gets the nod.

Could Nolan Enter The Twilight Zone? | Movie News | Empire

Noooooooo!!!

Plus, is it just me, or does the single story idea not work for this movie? Has anyone read The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made? The chapter in there about the Outter Limits movie is a clear example of how the idea doesn't seem to fit within the mould the TV show created.

Spielberg and crew had the right idea, it just wasn't executed well enough and the fallout from the unfortuante incident hampered the films success.

I agree, I don't know how a single story idea stretched out over the best part of 2 hours would work. And as for Michael Bay, God help us all.

On the one hand, I am happy to see that the movie is moving forward. But I share the reservations of everyone else. How does everyone feel about the other names on the list? For me it comes down to:

1. Christopher Nolan - A million times YES!!
2. Alfonso Cuaron - Another potantially good choice I think.
3. David Yates - Hard for me to say; I haven't seen any of his films, but he seems to be an up and comer, so I guess there's potential there.
4. Michael Bay - How he's even on the list is beyond me.

The single story thing is indeed something to chew over. On the one hand I do agree that it doesn't seem to be a good fit, and I tend to go with Collectors Room in that Spielberg had the right idea, it just wasn't executed well.

But...

I've mentioned before on the podcast that I think the true Twilight Zone movie is the original Planet of the Apes. And then I recall Marc Zicree's comments about several movies being Twilight Zone movies in spirit even if they aren't by name (The Sixth Sense etc). If they could have a movie every couple of years with the same host, that would eventually build into a long running collection of Twilight Zone films, it could work. The only problem is, all it would take is one dud to kill the whole enterprise.

I don't know. I'm very conflicted on this one. Interestingly I have quite a collection of Twilight Zone books, and three of them are a trilogy of full length Twilight Zone novels that all tie into each other. How that story works I'm curious to find out, I haven't read them yet, but that's pushing the boundaries even further than one movie.

Lots to think about!! But my fingers are crossed for Nolan.

For me it would have to have at the very least 3 stories to make it work. Anything less is too long.

So, the new is saying that the story is a feature length adaptation of one of the original episodes.

Which ones do we think will work? Which would be able to be stretched out over 90 minutes without feeling padded out?

Monsters are Due on Maple Street could work, especially if you set it in "real time". There is enough there to stretch it out and you could really draw out the tension to arrive at the boiling point. The only thing they would have to change is the ending which probably wouldn't work for a "21st Century" audience.

So Matt Reeves has been announced as the director of this movie. He made Cloverfield and Let Me In, both great movies, so there's hope that this could be good!

It's great that they've gone for an up and coming director who is making a good name for himself. It shows how seriously they're taking this.

Very much looking forward to this.

I still feel a bit put out this movie will be a one off story. I'm more for hoping for an original story instead of a remake.

I'm with you; not keen on them doing a remake either. I don't mind remakes as a rule, but I want new Twilight Zone. Something that I'll go to watch and be surprised by.

The idea seems to be to turn it into a new franchise and making a new movie every couple of years under the TZ banner. Thing is they've been beaten to this idea by M.Night Shymalan who's overseeing 'The Night Chronicles' movies with a similar theme. His first one 'Devil' was very enjoyable and had a very TZ feel about it. For me, the only way to go would be to make it an anthology movie, with maybe a single theme running through it. A recent example of how to make this work would be 'Trick r Treat'

I really dug Trick r Treat. That could be a great idea in how to handle this movie.

Not sure if anyone's seen this today. I can't wait til 2014..

New Writer Enters The Twilight Zone | Movie News | Empire

They are doing the Twillight Zone film not as an anthology but as one story and that honestly I couldnt care less about. Its a huge mistake.

Yes, already discussed earlier in the thread mate. I agree, seems an error of judgement.

More news, it seems Bryan Singer is the man now. If I'm reading this story right it looks like it's going to be a TV series. It's after the Man of Steel chat...

Bryan Singer breaks his silence on Man Of Steel | TotalFilm.com