Richard Kelly has shared an update on his highly anticipatedRod Serling Biopic. The project was first announced back in August 2019, andThe Twilight Zonefans have been waiting for any kind of update since then. However, Kelly has been pretty busy, though he admits that the upcoming biopic is a “very special project.” It seems that Kelly and his crew are trying to get everything dialed before they start the production.
In a new interview promoting theSouthland Tales Blu-ray edition, Richard Kelly was asked about theRod Serling Biopic. TheDonnie Darkodirector has not had much to say about the project since it was announced nearly two years ago, but there’s a good reason for that. Rod Serling is a legendary figure, andThe Twilight Zoneis one of the most beloved shows of all time, so the director is taking his time. Kelly had this to say about the upcoming movie.
“Well, that is a very special project. It’s avery ambitious projectand we want to get it right. We want to make sure we have the right talent and the right budget and all the elements need to be just perfect for that project to get made and we have such respect for Rod Serling’s legacy and the enormous footprint that he left in our business and in our culture. So, we’ve been working on that for several years.”
In terms of the “ambition” thatRichard Kellyspoke of, he was not kidding. TheRod Serling Biopicsounds like it will be unlike anything that we’ve ever seen in terms of biopics, though that makes sense since Rod Serling is the primary focus. You can read what Kelly had to say about the source material for the movie below.
“We’ve been working closely with Anne Serling, Rod’s daughter. I’ve adapted her memoir that she published about her father and his life and it’s a very ambitious approach to a biopic and it involves a lot offantasy elements. There is a big fantasy science fiction concept in the sort of approach that we’re taking to try and tell the story of his life. So, that’s a really complicated, difficult needle to thread, we are definitely working on it and hopefully at some point, we’ll get that project off the ground and it’s really just about getting all of the elements to work. So fingers crossed that we’ll get there and we can really pay a tribute to Rod’s life in the best possible way.”
Anne Serling’s memoir is titled, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling, and it is a must-read for Serling fans. The emotional book talks about their relationship, but goes even further into some of her father’s outspoken views about current events during the 1960s. It will be interesting to see how Richard Kelly is able to bring the complicated book and translate it for the big screen when all is said and done.
When asked if he used any of The Twilight Man graphic novel for hisRod Serling Biopic, Richard Kelly said that he was not familiar with it. “I have not read it. We have poured through all of Rod’s archives. We have done a massive deep dive into every aspect of his life and his writing in the research for the project, but that is not a book that I have read, no.” While Kelly was able to provide a solid update, he did not reveal when the project will be moving forward, so we’ll just have to wait and see. The interview with Richard Kelly was originally conducted byComing Soon.
