Michael Brandt to Direct 'Twilight Zone'-inspired 'Countdown'
This morning, we got word that scribe Michael Brandt (3:10 to Yuma) will make his directorial debut with Countdown, a sci-fi action tale based on a classic Twilight Zone episode. According to HollywoodReporter.com, the futuristic-film has quite a long history! Originally, Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) penned the Twilight Zone episode, titled Death Ship, based on the writer?s own short story, published a few years earlier in a magazine. Now Brandt and writing partner Derek Haas (who co-wrote 3:10 to Yuma) are taking a stab at rewriting the film adaptation, originally penned by Stephen Gregg and Scott Burn.
The film, which revolves around a group of lost astronauts who must learn where they are and figure out if they?re already dead?after landing on a planet and finding a crashed spaceship and corpses that eerily resemble their own?was originally set up in 2005, but is now slated to begin production as early as late summer. And since we all know how drastic Twilight Zone episode-to-film adaptations can be, Brandt reassures fans by saying, "The Twilight Zone needs to be careful to balance the traditional with the modern. The updates that are successful?not just of this but of any of the great 1950s sci-fi concepts?are those that take the idea and bring a modern sensibility to it." He adds, "When it misses sometimes, it's because people get caught up in the story from start to finish."
