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J.J. Abrams Developing a Spooky '7 Minutes in Heaven' Project

by Alex Billington
August 17, 2010
Source: Heat Vision, The Wrap

I know what you're thinking - a 7 Minutes in Heaven movie, like the classic teenage game where you put two people in a closet and let them go at it? Yes, but there is a twist (of course!). To me, J.J. Abrams is the new M. Night Shyamalan - he's a fantastic filmmaker, has a great visual eye, and he comes up with awesome ideas. This is another great idea. The details on the project first leaked in a story on The Wrap this evening, but now Heat Vision has separately confirmed that Bad Robot and "Lost" director Jack Bender, who came up with the original idea for this, are developing this project 7 Minutes in Heaven. Read on for the twist!

The movie, inspired by the classic "kissing game" popularly known as "7 Minutes in Heaven," will focus on two teens who go into a closet as part of the game, but when they come back out they find all of their friends dead. Say what you will about how cheesy that can be, but I love that concept. In fact, I love it so much I'm upset they didn't keep this whole thing a big mystery. Wouldn't it have been cool to see a trailer in front of some movie that starts with a teenager sleepover and they're playing "7 Minutes in Heaven" and two happy kids go in, it's all lovey-dovey, but then they open the doors and shit has hit the fan. I know I'd jump back and say "holy sh*t!" like when I first saw the Cloverfield trailer before we even knew what that was about!

Heat Vision doesn't have too many details, but they do say the project will probably end up at Paramount, which is where most of Bad Robot's titles go. I'm guessing that Jack Bender, who directed the final episode of "Lost", is hoping to eventually direct 7 Minutes in Heaven, but who knows if that'll happen since Bender was also announced as the director of Paramount's new Jack Ryan movie. One update says they're currently looking for a writer. Obviously not everyone is going to love this concept, but it's exactly what I want to see. We'll continue to keep you updated, although I wish it could remain a big mystery until they debut a trailer.

Explore tags: Hype, Movie News, Opinions

Eli

I think you're hyping this up too much. Sure Abrams is a modern film genius, but this could easily fall flat. If abrams isn't writing but producing, it still has potential. Otherwise, it'd be a no go.
Linkfx

Hahaha jj Abrams is the next Shyamalan? Sometimes you say the darnedist things, man. JJ is a proven hitmaker with a stellar track record in two mediums, he's nothing like Shyamalan, thankfully...(crossing my fingers he never will be either). If anything shyamalan is emulating jj by making a property out of himself recently with "devil", whereas jj has been creating stories for and with others for years now. Why can't people admit shyamalan was just a one hit wonder? "Unbreakable" is overrated. That being said the concept for this movie is a little lacking. It would work best with like 11 year old kids and make it really grisly and shocking with no funniness.
Eli

I would do something along the lines of billy and sally coming out of the closet but in another time period or something. The boy was known for his wild imagination. They're freaked out but the Sally more so than billy, but it gets worse. Everytime they go into the closet, they open up into a different time period. It's not a time machine, but they exit the closet 7 different times exploring the boys' grandparents' memories; all of which are given a dark twist; a story for every minute. Of course they don't realize it until they wake up in the closet in the right time, or so they think. That's when everyone is dead, but the lights are out so they don't get a good look at the bodies. They run to the closet one last time to end up somewhere else, but they are greeted by a maniac who's in the house. The final 20 minutes is an intense chase around the house where the kids just get lucky; no outsmarting this guy. While the boy is being chased by the guy, the girl turns on the living room lights and discovers that they stil aren't home. The bodies weren't the people they knew. The maniac crippled himself falling down the stairs and couldn't move. The kids enter the closet hoping it will transport them back to their time. It does. They exit the closet and everyone is dead. (only the girl sees this) For an alternate ending, the two were locked in the closet as part of the game but they suffocated. The twisted events that they witnessed were all really from the boy's twisted imagination before they died. Everyone died though due to something the host's deranged mother put in the punch. The entire time, they were in the grandparent's house and not any of the children's. They were away for the weekend or something. That's just me.
richard

um... you're talking as if jj abrams is spielberg or something. he makes O.K. movies not great.
Hattori Hanzo

I think if Abrams is given free reign he can be the next Spielberg.
Ariel

J.J. Abrams has a while to go before he gets to be legendary. Im not sorry to say this but Cloverfield made me gag. It was an abomination to the film industry. He has vision, yes but not everything he touches is pure gold. That can be said about anyone though. So he's just a regular dude. I like the concept though. This sounds like it could be good. I just hope it's not some dumb slasher film and makes you think your way through it. Psychological thrillers are way better than 50 gallons of stage blood being thrown around.
4k4k

Abrams could probably be the next Spielberg, but not the next horrible Shyamalan.
Alex O

Yeah, saying Shyamalan has so many negative connotations these days. Comparing him to anyone would fall short. Like he explained in his TED talk, I'll be waiting to tear open the box.
jim

well, it is always easy to create mysterious settings but it needs a lot of creativity to develope a logical and interesting solution or answer for the mysterious circumstances........
LINKFX

Ariel, yes "Cloverfield" wasn't exactly a gamechanger, but visually, the idea of doing all that VFX completely handheld was mind-boggling. I loved it, but he didn't direct that, and he's done other things are way better. Firstly, he's created some truly iconic television, from "Alias", to "Lost", going to back to "Felicity", and now with "Fringe"...and then he did an amazing job on "Mission Impossible III" and a truly stellar job with "Star Trek"...the guy has a gift for narrative...everyone associates him with "Cloverfield", but he only co-created that story and produced it...
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

#8 - I know, I'm just saying Abrams is like the old Shyamalan of past that people liked, where he kept coming up with awesome original ideas all the time and actually directed great movies (Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable, etc).
M

Boring. A movie about 7 mis of heaven which turns into a thriller? Boring. Just make a thriller instead and take out the 7 mins of heaven.
Clover

Good job # 10. Very well said. It still amazes me the hatred for Cloverfield, since it was beyond brilliant and only gets better with every viewing. But it easy to fathom ignorance when film making is a topic.....and adding viral to the equation. JJ has a gift, and I welcome his projects.