With Southland Tales finally finished (and set for limited release from Samuel Goldwyn Films on November 9th), Richard Kelly is now free at last, free at last to roll on his long-delayed third feature, The Box. Scripted by Eli Roth, The Box is based on a Richard Matheson short story, "Button, Button", about a housewife who receives a mysterious box from a very mysterious stranger. In the Matheson story, the box contains a button, which, if pressed, will a) bring the woman a big wad of cash while b) causing the death of a random individual she does not know.
Cameron Diaz landed the role of the housewife last June, and now she’ll be joined by Frank Langella, who will play the box-bearing stranger. Seann William Scott had once been attached as the husband, but he appears to be out of the picture now. Brad Davis of Midnight Express played the hubby when they adapted the story for the 1980s restart of The Twilight Zone; sadly, he’s not available either.
Come to think of it, I remember liking the 1985 version of "Button, Button", which was directed by The Changeling‘s Peter Medak and starred Mare Winnigham (back when folks were still trying to pretend she was cute). It’s worth tracking down if you’re into that stuff (and if you’re into that stuff, you’ve probably already tracked it down, so just ignore me).
Kelly’s The Box will begin shooting in November for Media Rights Capital (the folks who funded Borat). It’s tentatively due for theatrical release in late 2008.