Talkback: Which Twilight Zone Episode Should Become a Feature Film?

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Congrats to Matt Reeves, the Cloverfield director who just landed the upcoming Twilight Zone movie. Hopefully it'll be less of an apocalyptic disaster than the 1983 movie, but I'm already feeling optimistic: Reeves is also handling the Frankenstein-rejiggering His Dark Materials, which means he has a strong grasp on the eerie and far-out. Since we know the new Twilight Zone will not be a series of episodes like the first movie, I say we suggest possible episodes of the real series for writer Jason Rothenberg to adapt. What's your favorite?

For me, it's all about "The Jeopardy Room," the espionage-laden reversal of Rear Window. Instead of peering inside an apartment to catch a killer, the killers are outside the residence looking in. Since it's basically been established that the new Twilight Zone will feature paranormal elements, I'm making a last-minute plea for a juicy, semi-realistic, KGB spy caper. I also happen to be obsessed with young Martin Landau, who brought such unsettling (and homoerotic!) power to North by Northwest. What's your pick?

(By the way, we still need to settle the matter of casting Rod Serling.)

Matt Reeves is Warner Bros. Pick for 'Twilight Zone' Movie [Deadline]



Comments

  • NP says:

    For ones with a more paranormal spin: "What's in the Box," "A Penny for Your Thoughts," or "Dead Man's Shoes" would all be good candidates.
    For a futuristic dystopian one: "The Obsolete Man" is one of my favorites.

  • FilmVerse says:

    "...a juicy, semi-realistic, KGB spy caper..."
    Have you actually seen "The Twilight Zone"? Other than the episode you listed and two others in its five year run, the stories were either science fiction, fantasy, or horror. They generally had strong themes that touched upon the human experience with a twist ending. Other than season four's one-hour episodes that tended to drag on far too long, the stories were quick and to the point with a gotcha ending. To take any of these stories and stretch them to two hours would be a travesty. It's a mistake to do one story in a "Twilight Zone" movie anyway since the show was an anthology, but if they must do it, it's better to tell an original story that fits with the tone of the movie.
    By the way, "Real Steel" is a remake of a "TZ" episode. They had to completely re-write the story to make it work as a movie.
    filmverse.wordpress.com

  • brian angeloni says:

    The best possible episode is the one when a woman is constantly hasseling her husband about reading books and at the end of the world he lines up all the books he wants to read and then is glasses get broken and he will be unable to read any of them.

  • DebT says:

    Night of the Meek

  • Marc says:

    My favorite episode was called, "The Invaders", starring Agnes Moorhead.
    It was about a woman who investigates a noise on the roof of her rural house and discovers a small UFO and little aliens emerging from it. They get in her house and she fights them off with a broom. She never speaks through the entire show except for some grunts and grimaces when she gets shot from their laser weapons. I think it could be expanded into a movie length show with the right writers. It was a great episode.

  • Doug says:

    The Christmas episode with Art Carney when he played Santa and was homeless. Easily my favorite of the original series. Hauntingly perfect.

  • HwoodHills says:

    Two of Burgess Meredith's eps are pretty awesome.
    "The Obsolete Man" and, of course, "Mr. Dingle the Strong."
    I think "The Obsolete Man" has killer movie potential and "Dingle" could be both funny and interesting.

  • Adam says:

    This is my all-time favorite show and I own the boxed set. I have a few eps that I would love to see incorporated into the movie somehow. The issue with this movie is that a lot of eps were already used as the basis for movies. Here are ones I'd like to see:
    1- The Hitch-Hiker- where a woman is driving by herself cross-country and keeps seeing the same hitchiker.
    2- The Passersby- they did a bunch of eps that took place at other times in history, this one about the Civil War is one of my favs.
    3- Long Distance Call- a little boy talks to his dead grandmother on his toy phone

  • anonymous says:

    "Dead Man's Shoes" would be a great choice. One of my favorites.

  • anonymous says:

    "Two" would be an interesting choice. Elizabeth Montgomery gives a great performance with just her face...I don't think she has any dialogue at all. Could that hold up for 90 minutes? It would take an outstanding actress to pull it off.