It’s time to cross over into The Twilight Zone, because IndieWire reports that a new documentary on its creator, Rod Serling, is currently in the works. The host, writer, and political activist’s daughters Jodi and Anne Serling have boarded the project as executive producers, which will be directed by GameStop: Rise of the Players helmer Jonah Tulis.
According to IndieWire, the film will “explore how Serling’s writing helped change television forever. The film will look at Serling’s humble beginnings in television and how he later used his platform to affect change both on and off the screen, including his battles with censors and how he grappled with thought provoking issues of racism, war, the dangers of technology, and morality via the genre-bending, sci-fi parables.”
The film will reportedly lean on archival footage provided by the late creator’s estate, in order to recount Serling’s life “in his own words” — which works in its favor, given he’s perhaps most recognizable from his monologues at the beginning and end of each episode of The Twilight Zone, reflecting on moral and the oft-unsettling tales within. Much in the same style, certain key moments in Serling’s life will also be recreated in black-and-white, a la the tradition of the show, when filming takes place in Rhode Island.
Serling, who died at the young age of 50 in 1975, served as creator, host, and writer for The Twilight Zone, which premiered in 1959 on CBS and ran for five seasons, which sparked controversy as well as embedding itself into pop culture history forever. He earned six Primetime Emmy Awards throughout his career, and also wrote numerous other projects (including the original The Planet of the Apes), as well as engaging in antiwar activism after his own military service.
The film is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, and the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star will also produce the untitled project alongside Chad A. Verdi, Jennifer Davisson, Phillip Watson, Taylor DiGilio, Blake J. Harris, Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr., Paul Luba, and director Tulis.
“We are excited to dive into the life of such a visionary who understood the role storytelling plays in pushing and challenging societal norms,” Davisson told IndieWire. “Equipped with a vast and extensive collection of archival footage, we hope to capture the essence of a man who used ‘The Twilight Zone’ so poignantly to drive social and political change.”
Added Verdi: “We are very excited to collaborate with Appian Way and provide an inside look on Rod Serling’s story with a personal narrative and footage that audiences have never seen before. This documentary will be the first of several projects that we plan on producing with this team.”
No title or date for the Rod Serling documentary has been announced.
