After the drawn-out, behind-the-scenes headaches known as Donnie Darko and Southland Tales — one of which was redeemed by becoming a cult hit, the other, not so much — writer/director Richard Kelly finally made a big studio thriller: The Box, starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and recent Oscar nominee Frank Langella.
Kelly wrote the screenplay, which is based on a 1970 short story called “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson about a married couple who receive a box from a stranger with a button on it. The stranger tells them if they press the button, they’ll receive $50,000, but someone they don’t know will die.
The story was later adapted into an episode of the ’80s Twilight Zone, though it tweaked the original ending significantly.
As Kelly has expanded the story into a full-length movie, expect plenty more tweaks. Diaz and Marsden play the married couple, and Langella plays the stranger. The movie comes out in time for Halloween on October 30th; you can check out the first poster below:
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