Richard Kelly to make thriller Corpus Christi

richard kelly

Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly’s not had much luck since his stunning movie debut, his sophomore effort Southland Tales meeting with confused apathy, and 2009’s The Box garnering scathing reviews.

But he looks to be back on track with new film Corpus Christi . A Texas-set thriller, it follows the friendship between an unstable Iraq war vet and his wealthy, supermarket-owning boss.

All three of Kelly’s films thus far have involved some sort of oddball sci-fi angle, which makes the seemingly sci-fi-less Christi sound all the more unusual considering who’s directing.

But with the main character described by Variety as “mentally unstable”, we can’t help but imagine that Kelly has just found a different way to get his weirdness up on screen.

And despite The Box 's critical lashing, it was a definite step up from Southland for Kelly, who created a suitably ominous mood and some interesting set pieces before all the logic came crashing to the ground.

With casting now underway on Christi , an announcement of the actors involved will be made by the end of March. Shooting will commence in July.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.