Richard Kelly Eyeing 'Ambitious' Donnie Darko Sequel

It's been more than 15 years since Frank showed up and made us rethink everything we know about reality, and now Richard Kelly is finally brainstorming plans to bring him back.

In an interview with HMV, the Donnie Darko (2001) director revealed he's been mapping out a potential new sequel to the franchise. The film was a breakout role for Jake Gyllenhaal, and has become a cult hit over the past several years, and fans have spent countless hours dissecting its unique form of weirdness. Kelly said enough time has passed that he now feels there is a "bigger and more ambitious" story to be told within that universe. The director said he isn't in a very big hurry to get it made, with a different project already on his plate in the meantime, but noted he still believes there's "time to get to that."

The biggest holdup to getting the film made? Not surprisingly, money. Kelly said his idea is "big and expensive," and he wants to make sure he has a budget in place to actually "do it justice and not to compromise anything." To tell another story in the franchise, Kelly said he wants to have the budget in place before he moves ahead. Obviously, no word on casting, though it would admittedly be hard for many characters from the first film to return.

Of course, you can't talk about a Donnie Darko sequel without mentioning the straight-to-DVD follow-up S. Darko that hit bargain bin racks in 2009. That sequel focused on Donnie's little sister, now a teenager herself. The film's director Chris Fisher said he was inspired by Kelly's original film and tried to honor it, but the film was universally panned by critics. Kelly had nothing to do with the film, and made that abundantly clear upon release.