The Box (2009)

Synopsis:

Norma (Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (Marsden) receive a small wooden box as a gift. A mysterious stranger (Langella) relays the message that the box will deliver $1 million to it’s owner with the simple press of a button. The only catch – once they press that button, someone they do not know will die. Based on the short story Button, Button by Richard Matheson.

Our Thoughts:

Wow, it’s just horror preview week at Critiqal, isn’t it? Following on the heels of our previews of The Uninvited (2009) and Unborn (2009) comes The Box, currently set to arrive in theaters in 2009.

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden team up to star in The Box. While Cameron has recently been making rom-coms (The Holiday) – having already done action flicks (Charlie’s Angels (2000)) and comedy (There’s Something About Mary) – it will be interesting to see how she does in a horror film like The Box…even if getting herself out of her secure rom-com niche for a risky horror film seems a bit more daring than we’ve come to expect recently from Cameron.

The biggest thing to look out for, in Cameron’s case? If Cameron is going to pull off being a ‘Norma’.

James Marsden, still fighting to get rid of his X-Men (2000) persona, Cyclops, co-stars in The Box. Will people be able to look at him as ‘Arthur’, or will they still see Cyclops? At this point, probably a bit of the Cyclops will show through, but in a horro movie, having a heroic leading man isn’t usually a bad thing.

After achieving cult status (and kick-starting Jake Gyllenhall’s career) with Donnie Darko (2001), Richard Kelly’s 2nd picture, Southland Tales (2007) wasn’t quite as well received. While it was an interesting picture, too much was crammed in to make it really work (not to mention the overabundance of ex-”SNL” stars).

With The Box, he’s looking to tone down the budget a bit ($30 mil this time around) and go back a little bit more to the off-the-wall Donnie Darko (2001) roots. With it’s oddball premise, The Box could achieve some pretty high points with Kelly at the helm – or Kelly could end up burying the movie six feet under.

Guess we’re going to wait for at least a trailer to decide for ourselves – but we’re hoping The Box will put Kelly’s star back on the rise in Hollywood.