Indeed the box for THE BOX doesn’t disappoint. Because it is indeed a box… With a button on it, which makes perfect sense, since the story for Richard Kelley’s Richard Matheson adaptation not only involves a box, but the button ON the box. So this picture is covering the bases…
Enough of my rambling about box buttons though, what’s this have to do with anything, you ask. Well, this little contraption is the source of many troubles in the film. Twitch got a hold of the picture, as well as a synopsis for the thriller. Read on!
The gripping story of a desperate couple, Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden), who are faced with a terrible dilemma when a mysterious glass box turns up at their door. If they press the button inside the box, they’ll get enough money to save their ailing son, but in exchange, someone, somewhere in the world will die. When the temptation to save their beloved son becomes too much to bear, Norma pushes the button. Immediately, a gunshot rings out somewhere nearby. Consumed with guilt. Norma must do everything in her power to solve a murder she has knowingly caused.
This is a much expanded version of the original Matheson story, which was only a few pages long and involves none of the murder-solving business at the end of the synopsis. It will be interesting to see what Kelley does with the premise – and equally interesting to see how he rebounds from the trial and tribulation that has been SOUTHLAND TALES…