James Marsden will star opposite Cameron Diaz in "Darko" helmer's Matheson adaptation. Marsden, the actor who played Cyclops in the X-Men trilogy, will be the male lead in The Box a horror film directed by Richard Kelly.  Kelly brought audiences Donnie Darko (2001) as a twentysomething and his new film, Southland Tales, will hit theaters on November 14.  Marsden also appeared in Superman Returns (2006) and first came to the attention of this horror fan in the 1998 Katie Holmes vehicle Disturbing Behavior.

The Box is based on a short story by the great Richard Matheson entitled "Button, Button," which was first adapted as part of the Twilight Zone series in the '80s.

  Matheson, of course, wrote many of the classic Twilight Zone episodes in the original series.  And the third screen adaptation of his gripping postapocalyptic neo-vampire novel I Am Legend will be released in December.

"Button, Button," like many Matheson stories, has a premise that manages to be subtle yet very nasty.  A couple gets a mysterious box with the magical power of granting them money if they simply push a button on it—the catch is that somewhere, someone will die as a result.  I recall the TV adaptation as being fairly solid, but it will be interesting to see what happens when the work expands to feature-length and gets filtered through Kelly's imagination.

(Source:  Reuters/Hollywood Reporter)