USA Today has an annoyingly-written-but-nonetheless-intriguing first look at the new film from Richard Kelly, The Box.

[Richard Kelly’s] desire to bewilder has earned him a certified cult classic (2001’s Donnie Darko) and an unmitigated flop (2007’s Southland Tales), but no direct hit.

For his third big-screen feat, the 32-year-old USC film-school grad is not only thinking inside the box. He is actually making The Box, complete with his first major studio (Warner Bros.) and an A-list star (Cameron Diaz) on board….

Unlike his previous efforts, the sci-fi-tinged thriller is a breeze to summarize. Its plot hook is inspired by a 1986 Twilight Zone episode that haunted Kelly as a kid: A couple (Diaz and James Marsden) open their door to find a box containing a button. If they push it, they will receive $1 million. The catch? Someone they don’t know will die.

As one of the three people on the planet who actually liked both Darko and Southland, I’m stoked for this one. It’s weird: Disaster that the desperately esoteric Southland was, you’d think Kelly’s statements towards going more mainstream would be comforting—but they actually feel kind of worrisome, seeing as how dude’s so notable largely because he hasn’t been making mainstream works thus far. It’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out. No release date yet, but hopefully it’ll come out in a more timely fashion than Southland did.

Thanks to Ezra for the heads up.