Richard Kelly‘s last pic didn’t fare so well, considering Southland Tales made the festival circuit and bounced around some studios before never being released even though it starred the likes of The Rock, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Miranda Richardson, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz, Bai Ling, Mandy Moore, Lou Taylor Pucci and Justin Timberlake. Oh well, I guess making one cult classic like Donnie Darko doesn’t mean you are successful. However, that doesn’t mean he is hanging it up.
Nope, Kelly is set to direct The Box, a PG-13 thriller with Cameron Diaz already set to star. Kelly penned the script based on he Richard Matheson short story “Button, Button.”
Diaz will have to hide her wrinkles as she plays a young woman who is given a mysterious box by a stranger. She’s told that certain things will happen depending on which buttons she presses.
If said young woman was my friend I would have a few questions before pushing any of the buttons at all, but I am assuming we will skip logic and push away.
The Variety article goes on to say that the recent $20 million opening of 1408 made the star-driven high concept supernatural thriller feel like a viable financial proposition. Talk about quick turnaround time considering 1408 came out only six days ago.
Modi Wiczyk, a former Endeavor agent who founded and runs Media Rights Capital with Asif Satchu, was quoted saying, “The storyline has all the commerciality of The Ring, but with Richard and Cameron, this film can rise to the level of Rosemary’s Baby and The Others.” Now those are some lofty goals.
