Writer-director Richard Kelly discusses the possibility of revisiting Donnie Darko with an expanded universe. Donnie Darko featured Jake Gyllenhaal in an early role as the title character. He shared the screen with a stellar cast that included Jenna Malone, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Seth Rogen in a minimal early role, and his real-life sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, playing his on-screen sibling. The plot sees troubled teen Donnie grappling with narrowly escaping an extreme accident while being manipulated into committing crimes through bizarre visions of a man in a creepy rabbit suit.

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Donnie Darko didn’t make much of a splash at the box office, but it found an audience when it was released on DVD. General audiences found Donnie Darko to be dense and difficult to interpret as it involves time travel and some complex ideas while not holding the viewer’s hand with overt explanations. However, it garnered a cult following, which saw the film get a director’s cut in 2004. That cut features more in-depth explanations of the time travel concepts at play, but some diehard fans felt it gave a bit too much away. Since Donnie Darko‘s release, Kelly has gone on to helm films like Southland Tales and The Box but hasn’t found much success as both those projects missed with audiences. The Box was also the last film Kelly directed, which was released in 2009.

To celebrate Donnie Darko‘s 20th anniversary, Kelly sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about the film. During the interview, Kelly made comments about delving back into Donnie Darko‘s universe and expanding on those ideas. While nothing concrete was given away, Kelly has clearly been working hard to see what potential remains with the property. Check out Kelly’s comments below:

“There’s so much information in Donnie Darko, I’ve been processing it for two decades, but I think really in the past five years or so, since Trump was elected, I’ve been really digging into it and working to see what the bigger world of the film could look like.”

Previously, Donnie Darko has been expanded on with S. Darko, a 2009 sequel that follows Samantha, Donnie’s little sister. S. Darko was written by Nate Atkins and directed by Chris Fisher, with Kelly said to have disowned it. The sequel was hated by critics and audiences alike, with most citing it as a poorly produced cash grab. Following the poor reception of S. Darko, the world of Donnie Darko has laid dormant.

If Kelly gets the opportunity to expand on Donnie Darko, the current streaming market offers plenty of avenues for more films or even a series. A theatrical Donnie Darko film could also be a possibility, though, given its cult status and poor box office performance in the past, that seems less likely. It’s also unclear how Kelly would want to approach expanding the universe. While there are plenty of other characters to focus on, 20 years is a long time, giving a wide variety of things to possibly delve into. There’s still no indication that anything will come to fruition, but Donnie Darko fans could very well get some exciting news about a new project in the future.

Source: Rolling Stone

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Timothy McClelland
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Tim McClelland is a TV/Movie News Writer for Screen Rant, and his screenplays have accrued more than 25 awards and selections in competition. He got his start when his short biography of Augusten Burroughs was published in 2008, and his career has seen him write video game walkthroughs, web content, and interactive fiction for mobile platforms. Tim resides in Durham, NC, with a rabid passion for film, TV, video games, and comics.

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