Will we finally getDonnie Darko 3, a true sequel to the Jake Gyllenhaal sci-fi classic? Last year, the 2001 thrillerDonnie Darkocelebrated its 15th Anniversary with a4K re-releasein select U.K. theaters, although it never made it to the U.S. Now that the re-release is available on Blu-ray, writer-directorRichard Kellyrevealed in a new interview that he does have plans for a true follow-up that will return to this unique universe. While he doesn’t offer specifics, the filmmaker explained that it will be even bigger and more ambitious than the original.
“I think there’s something much bigger and more ambitious to do in that universe. It’s big and expensive and I think there’s time to get to that. I want to make sure we’ve got the budget to do it justice and not to compromise anything. Another story in this world needs resources and we need to have that in place. I need to get my next film out of the gate and then we can go back and look at it.”
While no story details were given in the director’s interview withHMV.com, it isn’t clear ifJake Gyllenhaalis returning in his title role. In 2009, 20th Century Fox releasedS.Darko, which focused onDonnie Darko’s sister Samantha (Daveigh Chase), set seven years after the original movie. Although neitherJake GyllenhaalnorRichard Kellywere involved in that film, which was directed byChris Fisher. Rumors surfaced shortly after that the studio was interested in making a thirdDonnie Darko movie, which was rumored to haveRichard Kellyinvolved in some capacity, but we never heard anything further about that project.Richard Kellywent onto say that he has a number of different projects he wants to get to first, beforeDonnie Darko, intending to make up for lost time since he hasn’t directed a feature since 2009’sThe Box.
“I’ve been working on a lot of different projects. The trouble is they’re all very ambitious and expensive so they take a lot of time to get in place. We’re being very careful to set things up properly, but I’m planning to make up for lost time and make several movies back to back. It’s nice to be able to bring people back to where we started, but I plan to be back behind a camera in 2017.”
Theoriginal movieis set in October, 1988. In the middle of the night, a man in a monstrous rabbit suit appears to Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), a troubled teenager living with his family in suburban Virginia, to tell him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. And so, a cult movie is born. As Donnie’s grip on reality weakens, we’re drawn into the darkness that lurks underneath the surface of suburbia. Underappreciated upon its initial release in 2001, Richard Kelly’s mind-bending film only earned $517,375 in its initial box office run, with a lifetime total of $1.2 million that includes previous re-releases. but no box office data was available for the brief 4K restoration re-release. The supporting cast forDonnie DarkoincludesJena Malone,Maggie Gyllenhaal,Daveigh Chase,Mary McDonnell,James Duval,Patrick Swayze,Noah Wyle,Drew BarrymoreandSeth Rogen, in his feature film debut. Hopefully we’ll hear more fromRichard Kellysoon about his long-awaited follow-up toDonnie Darko.
