Richard Kelly's new thriller is set in the 70s because people had more anonymity then.
The director's latest film 'The Box' stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a struggling couple who are delivered a box by a mysterious man called Arlington Steward (Frank Langella).
He offers them a deal - if they open the box and push the button inside, they will get $1 million in cash. However, pushing the button will kill one person in the world - somebody they don't know.
'Donnie Darko' director Richard explained: "The concept of someone you don't know, which is inherent to the premise, doesn't really exist anymore.
"With modern kinds of social networking sites and Google satellite maps and like all of the surveillance technology that we have today. Norma could sit down and Google the name Arlington Steward and sit in front of her laptop for half the movie."
'The Box' is based on a short story, 'Button, Button', by Richard Matheson which the director read, bought the rights to and developed into a full-length feature film.
He said: "There was one line in the short story that just sent my mind racing, and it was when they asked who Mr. Steward worked for. And that, to me, was just so fascinating, because I had all these questions."
Meanwhile Cameron has said she signed to the film because she was intrigued to work with Richard.
She said: "I was a huge fan of Richard's from 'Donnie Darko' and 'Southland Tales,' and I just really wanted to work with him. I just knew that Richard would tell the story uniquely, and I wanted just to be a part of that."
Leave a comment