The remake is out there...

By Steven Zeitchik

We'll admit right off the bat we were underwhelmed by the X-Files sequel/reboot (with apologies to the tagline, we wanted to believe) that Fox unspooled at the Chinese Wednesday night. The movie is faithful to the original, but that isn't necessarily a good thing -- despite some reveals about the Mulder-Scully relationship, it doesn't advance in a terribly exciting way the mythology of the show, nor does it feel like a fully-formed creation in its own right. Mostly, it had the feel of an episode, one with a lot of medical-thriller tropes. (Then again, given that the budget was said to be as low as $25-30 mil, it doesn't have to do "Dark Knight" numbers this weekend to earn its money back.)

But the movie is notable for another reason: it comes out the same exact day as the news breaks that the Twilight Zone could be getting a brand-spanking new treatment -- and courtesy of Leo DiCaprio, no less. It's still very early days ("the Time Element" to Serling's full-fledged "Twilight Zone" for the hopelessly hardcore out there). But basically, DiCaprio's production co Appian Way and Warners are putting out the word to top-level creators inviting their feature pitches based on the show. They're hoping for some top talent to come up with ideas based on one or more episodes that could be turned into a pic (it's only for the episodes written by Serling, which is what Warners owns, though that comprises the lion's share of the shows). It's not even in development.

Still, the idea of trying another turn at the ill-fated 1983 movie -- that of Vic Morrow's death and/or so-called curse - and this time with one arc instead of four discrete episodes, seems like a perfect idea. Movies from the 1980's are coming back (see under: Red Dawn and Fame). TV shows are coming to the bigscreen (see under: Sex and the City). Paranormal TV shows are coming back, assuming the X-files does at least sme business. So why not take another shot with the house that Rod built? The show has influenced hundreds of filmmakers already (Michael Brandt is
making the "Countdown" episode for Summit) and it's already one of the most highly-tested brands out there among a surprisingly wide age demo.

Or maybe we just want to believe.

Comments

[Don Murphy]

Warner Brothers does NOT own the rights to the Serling episodes. You were mis-led or made that up.

[Liz]

No offense to Rod, of course, but I'm not sure that most of the Twilight Zone plots hold up too well to close examination. Besides which, most people know the punchlines now. I'm not sure what direction they could take it, unless they were to come up with something entirely new - and, as I was just discussing with some colleagues the other day, people (in the U.S. at least) seem to prefer "jump scares" to genuine, unsettling horror that sticks with you. It would almost have to be an entirely different animal from the original show in order to find success. Which raises the question, why a remake at all?

[Dan Zee]

These days, the studios are just looking for "brand names" (i.e., existing franchises), figuring audiences will go to any horror anthology film that has the TZ name on it. I can't really fault DiCaprio, though. You have a better chance of getting a TZ movie made than a generic horror anthology movie, although Stephen King and George Romero gave it a go with the low-budget Creepshow. You also have a lot of directors who want a chance to do their version of a TZ story, but Masters of Horror pretty much covered that territory.

I don't know. I'd wait for the review before I'd see the movie.

[kenmandu]

Speilberg tried it with "AMAZING STORIES" on TV and bombed... The TZ episodes were made during a kinder, gentler, and frankly more intelligent era... The episodes were 22 minutes long and often had the best character actors of the day... Rather than making yet more lazy-minded remakes isn't it possible to find writers out there with something new to explore rather than the done-to-death superhero genre and its simplistic good vs evil ethos --- ZZZZZZZZZ!

[Sharifa]

OMG, I hope this happens and I pray to God that they don't mess it up. The Twilight Zone is only the most prolific series to ever be on tv, besides the Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
I say they should either flesh out "The Living Doll" episode, which is classic. "My name is Talking Tina, and I'm going to kill you." Or they could take a stab at fleshing out "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," or even the episode with the kid who wishes everyone into the cornfield. God, I love Twilight Zone and Rod Sterling. Freakin GENIUS!