After a trip to the grid in Tron Legacy and to the distant future in Oblivion, Joseph Kosinski is now getting ready to enter a dimension of sound, sight and mind - one of shadow and substance, of things and ideas. Joseph Kosinski is entering The Twilight Zone.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sci-fi filmmaker is now in on-going discussions with Warner Bros. to direct the new, long-in-development Twilight Zone movie. This is the first news we've heard about the project getting a director since Matt Reeves signed on all the way back in October of 2011 (he eventually moved on to make the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). While the project has seen a number of screenwriters attached over the years - including Rand Ravich (The Astronaut's Wife), Jason Rothenberg, Anthony Peckham (Sherlock Holmes), and Joby Harold (Awake) - the script is getting yet another makeover to fit more with Kosinski's strengths.
In late 2012 there was a rumor going around that said the movie would be about a test pilot who becomes the first person to ever travel lightspeed. Obviously this is an incredible achievement, but when the test pilot exists his craft he discovers that he has traveled 96 years into the future. Not only was this plotline never confirmed, it's entirely possible that the entire idea is being scrapped now that Kosinski is potentially on-board. The trade doesn't say anything about the plot, simply that the "are being kept under wraps."
Rod Serling introduced the world to The Twilight Zone back in 1959, and spent five years scaring audiences with stories of terror, horror and mystery, typically with a nice splash of science-fiction. The program has since been revived twice, once in 1985 and the second time in 2002. In 1983 directors Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg teamed up to make Twilight Zone: The Movie, and - across multiple segments - had an awesome cast that included names like Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Scatman Crothers, John Larroquette, Kathleen Quinlan, Priscilla Pointer, and more. I do enjoy the whole movie, but I'm particularly fond of the prologue:
In his term as a feature film director, Kosinski has gotten a lot of praise for his impressive visual style, but also plenty of flak for his storytelling capabilities. Hopefully Warner Bros. will arm him with the best script and the best cast they can provide, and we get a winning new installment to the long running franchise. Cue the music!
