Matt Reeves has left his adaptation of one of the world’s greatest television series, THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The film, produced by Warner Bros. is based on the astonishing horror/sci-fi anthology series, and seemed the perfect fit for the director of CLOVERFIELD (2008) and LET ME IN (2010). It is reported that scheduling conflicts are to blame for Reeves’ exit. Reeves has recently been set to develop TV shows for 20th Century Fox, and has also mentioned he is developing CLOVERFIELD 2, and adaptations of vampire novel THE PASSAGE and Frankenstein variant THIS DARK ENDEAVOR, although he has been quiet about these projects for some time.
It now appears that those films may have to wait even longer. After Rupert Wyatt left the ape revolution sequel DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Reeves is reportedly heading the list of potential replacements for 20th Century Fox. Other names in the pot include Guillermo Del Toro, J Blakeson, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Jeff Nichols, Juan Antonio Bayona, and Scott Cooper.
Emma Watts, the president of Fox production, will be meeting with directors shortly to discuss the project. Let’s keep in mind that this is just a shortlist of names and these directors may have absolutely no interest in the project whatsoever. Reeves seems like a solid bet after leaving THE TWILIGHT ZONE adaptation and already working at 20th Century Fox developing TV series.
I think this is ever so important that Fox get the right director to handle the well received script from Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silva, as this is a sequel that could easily sink. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was the surprise summer success of 2010. Reeves impressed me with CLOVERFIELD, but LET ME IN was just an unnecessary, far too similar, remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008). But Reeves also wrote UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY, so there’s hope yet.
