First announced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way back in 2008, the feature adaptation of the anthology series The Twilight Zone has been pretty much shrouded in secrecy from the get go, save for the fact the proposed movie would consist of a single ‘VFX heavy’ tale inspired by Rod Serling’s classic TV show. Well, after close to five years in development, we may now finally have an idea of what the storyline will be, and it seems the producers have been looking to the Serling-scripted Planet of the Apes for inspiration.
According to Vulture, the ‘Untitled Twilight Zone Project‘ will incorporate astronauts and time-travel, with the plot revolving around “a test pilot who winds up breaking the speed of light; when he puts down his craft, he discovers that he’s landed a bit late for supper – 96 years late.” Despite not being based on one of Serling’s original stories, the concept certainly seems appropriate for The Twilight Zone, and it’s also familiar territory for current screenwriter Joby Harold, who recently contributed to the script for Tom Cruise’s upcoming time-loop sci-fi actioner All You Need is Kill.
Plans for the new Twilight Zone movie were dealt a blow last month when Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) chose to depart the project in order to helm the sci-fi sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. However, we should probably expect Warner Bros. to appoint another director as a priority, with the studio said to be keen to capitalise on the success of Rian Johnson’s recent time-travel hit Looper.
Originally published November 3, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
