Donnie Darko writer-director Richard Kelly has been talking about potentially revisiting his most famous work, stating that “there’s a lot more story to tell.”
Kelly has been doing the publicity rounds for Arrow Video’s new 4K restoration of the 2001 film about a troubled teen endeavouring to save the world, and told Fandom that he’d definitely be interested in returning to the Darko universe.
More Story to Tell…
“I think there’s always an opportunity for me to revisit this world,” he revealed. “Never in a million years would I ever want someone to remake this film, or reboot. I think that would be very tragic. And I obviously was horrified by what those people did with that sequel [2009’s S. Darko] that I had no involvement in or authorisation over. I think there’s an opportunity for me to revisit this world at some point.
“I plan on making a lot more films so we’ll see what happens. I’m grateful that I was able to maintain what we have here, and there’s definitely more to this universe than people realise. There’s a lot more story. All my films are connected in ways that people are starting to realise the more they analyse them. So we’ll see what happens.”
Where’s Donnie?
Kelly was less sure if Donnie himself would appear in any follow-up, stating, “I think I’m still figuring all that out – I don’t quite have an answer for you yet.”
As for where the character would be now if he hadn’t decided to save the world, Kelly said, “He would be making films. Making very successful films.” He added that they would be like his, “but they would all be big hits at the theatrical box office. And he would get to make a lot more of them!”
What’s Next?
If Donnie 2 isn’t next, we asked Kelly what is, and while he wouldn’t get specific, it sounds like we might be seeing something new very soon.
“We’re very, very close, and I’m very, very excited to be finally directing another film” he explained. “I’m very optimistic that it will happen this year. We’re working diligently to make that happen.
“Again, these things, they just cost a lot of money. We want to get it right and live up to people’s expectations and we want to make sure we have all the visual enhancements that we need. And we have the budget that we need. We’re very, very close and I’ve got a great team surrounding me. So fingers crossed, and hopefully I’ll be able to talk to you about it really soon.”
The Arrow restoration of Donnie Darko is out now.