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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Donnie Darko Back in Theatres??

07:48 / 08.04.04

A friend of mine told me the other day that they were going to re-release Donnie Darko in theatres...I didn't beleive him at the time...but today I saw the new video for "Mad World" and it said on the credits :from the movie Donnie Darko...so that made me think twice....anybody know anything about this?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

12:47 / 08.04.04

I know there's a special extended edition coming out and that the soundtrack was being properly released to coincide with that, whether there's a proper schedule for it being in cinemas or it being just part of some larger season I don't know.

15:31 / 21.04.04

This just in, on today's CNN:

------------------

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- "Donnie Darko," a cult drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a disturbed teenager, is getting a new theatrical release, featuring 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage.

Newmarket Films, which released the film in 2001, is unveiling a director's cut at the Seattle Film Festival on May 29. It plans to release the film theatrically in Seattle before moving into other markets later in the summer.

The new version will also have new visual effects and music.

"Even though I am proud of the theatrical version of the film, I've always felt that the story was somewhat compromised in order to come in under two hours," said "Darko" writer-director Richard Kelly. "With this version I feel like I've finally been able to complete the film."

"Darko" grossed just $515,545 at the domestic box office but has since gained a following on DVD, where it has grossed more than $10 million domestically. It also stars Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, James Duval and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

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15:39 / 21.04.04

Ooooh. That's really interesting and exciting, but at the same time not a little troubling. I mean the original is generally considered to be a cult classic already - and it's quite possible that it's a classic because of the cuts and the stresses and the slightly inadequate explanations. I've not found any of the supporting material for the film to be particularly helpful in enjoying the movie - is this another example of an extended version spoiling the original?

miss wonderstarr

19:28 / 21.04.04

This from fansite Sparklemotion.com:

The changes to the new "Darko" begin at 06.42, with the freshly-recorded Gyllenhaal voiceover kicking in.

"Darko. That's what they call me. Donnie Darko. I've got the power to travel through time."

Next voiceover comes in at 10.03:

"Frank. That's the name of the rabbit I see in my hallucinations. Back in the old movies, he would have been called Harvey and caused hilarity. But things have changed now and he's a scary character."

The most significant single change to the new movie is the "Goblin Dream" (1.14), where Donnie falls asleep and we cut to a slo-mo clip (actually from 80s cult flick Labyrinth) of a weird Goblin King running through a forest, shaking his long locks.

Fans are already debating the meaning of the new insert... discuss it HERE on sparklemotion boards

20:03 / 21.04.04

You're joking right? That sounds terrible! I can completely believe that they'd do all of those things, unfortunately, but I'm praying that you're not serious. Voiceover? Goblins? Time-travel super-powers?!

miss wonderstarr

20:16 / 21.04.04

Tom! Think "Los Angeles 2019" (1982, director's cut 1991)

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:49 / 21.04.04

That sounds appalling. Please God, not the voice-over. (And yes, I'm one of those freaks who actually found the one in Blade Runner quite endearing...)

miss wonderstarr

22:48 / 21.04.04

Update from sparklemotion.com boards

Wormhole-Surfer
Posts: 2895
April 22, 12.14AM

i cant belve they are changing the ending in this movie!! the old one was fine what happened to the rule, if it aint f&$ked don't fix it?

just my $0.2

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PapaSmurf
Posts: 63
April 22, 12.16AM

Wormhole, the original ending will still be featured on the dvd as an option. the new ending is going to rock. I can see it now, Donnie sailing thru the clouds, then he warps time and goes back to the roman age... this movie Donnie 2 is going to kick a$$ (sorry if I offended anyone)

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Maggie's-Fan
Posts: 1058
April 22, 12.18AM

lmao

he's not going back to "roman times", dude. The ending is just Donnie super-imposed over a backdrop of clouds (taken from the movie "Beaches"). Check the voice over on www.sparklemotion.com/d2/script.html

"I'd died and come back to life, with the power to go to the future, or the past. I didn't know how much time I had left. Who does?"

Richard (Kelly) has said in interview that the sequel, D2, is gonna take Donnie back to stone age days. Roman times??? I don't know where you get that cr@p Papa? PMSL

22:59 / 21.04.04

A friend of mine's father works in Hollywood and saw rushes of the original cut. There were bleached out 'Emerald City' scenes, flying monkeys, red shoes... Maybe they'll show up in this new Directors' Cut?

23:02 / 21.04.04

Barbelith synch - just literally finished watching the film again, came here to re-read the Donnie Darko thread, and what's at the top? Another Donnie Darko thread.

Don't you just love it.

23:03 / 21.04.04

Maybe you're still watching the movie, olulabelle?

23:04 / 21.04.04

Or, maybe you're DEAD!?

miss wonderstarr

23:07 / 21.04.04

Anyone notice the date on Olulabelle's last message?

olulabelle
02:02 / 22.04.03

Read it again. That's 2003, people. Some freaky shit going on right here.

miss wonderstarr

23:09 / 21.04.04

...

I don't believe this. That date just turned back to 2004.

Have a look and compare the two versions...the original post (now altered) and the one I quoted above.

23:14 / 21.04.04

Tom Coates
00:26 / 22.04.03
Hang on - I'm sure I've spent AGES trying to get people to go and see this film! I saw it at the London film festival MONTHS ago and fucking ADORED it. It's too good for words. Very weird, very entertaining, creepy, cool... Want it on DVD but I honestly think it's only been on at the cinema once in the UK...

Weird!

01:04 / 22.04.04

I'm not liking the sound of this, hopefully some of it is complete BS, but it sounds Kelly is making a director's cut for no apparent reason, and adding in stuff just to make it different. A voiceover isn't exactly a high budget thing, so there's no reason if he wanted it, it wouldn't be in the first cut.

And please, no Wizard of Oz references, the movie has been referenced far too much.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

01:35 / 22.04.04

Actually, on further reading, I think there's some piss-taking going on.

03:23 / 22.04.04

This may just be movie dork conspiracy theorizing, but (in addition to just sounding so fucking stupid I can't believe any of it's real) that bit about "I didn't know how much time I had left. Who does?" is such an obvious reference to the famously director's-cutted (and afore-mentioned) Blade Runner that it seems clear this is a joke.

03:32 / 22.04.04

Okay, I just read the part about Labyrinth again. I guess I wasn't paying attention the first time. Now I feel kinda dumb for even bothering to point out that this is a joke.

miss wonderstarr

06:29 / 22.04.04

I was trying to make it obvious! I guess some folk just really want to believe.

18:50 / 01.06.04

A guy on the Bendis board (which I scan regularly for news & such, although it's a lot of nonsense there too) posted that he saw the new director's cut/re-release of DONNIE...

>> ...and it is good! he added roughly 30 minutes into it, and changed some of the music around and added some new effects. plays out more of the time travel stuff and shows more of the book. jena malone, drew barrymore, mary mcdonnell and richard kelly were all in attendance, and i have to say that jena malone is even hotter in person. if you are a fan of donnie darko go see this when it opens later this summer.

20:59 / 14.06.04

another mini-review of the Director's Cut I found on the net:

>> Anybody else here seen it yet? Thoughts? Comments? Did you like the extra stuff? I love the added sound, and the new songs added in. Didn't mind the extra scenes, but the stuff where they showed the pages of the Philosophy of Time Travel felt like they were holding our hands and guiding us through the plot.

>> Oh, and I love what they did with Frank's voice making it more booming and commanding.

07:28 / 15.06.04

There are trailers online if anyone's interested -very little new information, but more pictures from The Philosophy Of Time Travel. Most of what I've read about it seems to be talk about the fact that there's more music in the Director's Cut, rather than the fact that there's going to more movie as well.

.

11:38 / 15.06.04

No! Why fuck with such a good film?! Why take the lovely ambiguities and iron them out in one direction?

Anyone who's seen the secret bits on the DVD knows that less was indeed more...

Foust is SO authentic

12:13 / 15.06.04

This director's cut, are we sure it's not just the DVD's deleted scenes edited into the movie proper?

20:18 / 16.08.04

It's not just the deleted scenes, no. There are some new visual effects, new music, and as was mentioned, The Philosophy of Time Travel actually makes several appearances in the movie.

Whether that destroys the 'ambiguity' is open to debate. Friends that had seen the movie for the first time as the director's cut still found it fairly 'ambiguous' -- or 'hard to understand,' depending. I think Kelly has made a certain reading of the film more up-front than before, but not to the extent of revealing everything in his bag of tricks.

This version struck me as being much more Mothman Prophecies (the book, not the movie) and Philip K. Dick influenced than did the original cut. I don't think many fans of the original will hate this cut: I'm ambivalent about it, myself. I think it's interesting, but "better" is a tough quality to gauge. I'll have to see it again.

11:44 / 12.05.08

Oh GET the fuck OUT

12:39 / 12.05.08

Crowe quipped to ScreenDaily: "Donnie's not in [the new film] but there are meteorites and rabbits."

Yes, there were lots of meteorites in the first one too. Fuck ache.

MACC's going to have a field day when DD3 comes out.

Uatu.is.watching

20:24 / 12.05.08

It's like "The Two Jakes" all over again...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:26 / 13.05.08

Please tell me that was actually wonderstarr taking the piss again...

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

21:24 / 13.05.08

You know, I need to start getting fanfiction made into movies, because there's apparently money in it.

08:03 / 15.05.08

I'm interested in seeing what is in the footage that was added.

This is something different then the scenes that were on the DVD release correct?
I saw those and I liked the film a lot more without those scenes.
I liked creating my own meaning rather then being told exactly what is going on for something that abstract.