25 years after Donnie Darko hit screens and instantly became a cult classic, director Richard Kelly is releasing an 800-page sequel novel set to hit shelves later this year.
As per Variety, the novel takes place around 14 months after the movie. Donnie Darko follows Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular teen who experiences strange visions that predict a disastrous event. The movie concludes with Darko dying, ultimately sacrificing himself for his family. Kelly's novel, officially titled 'The Philosophy of Time Travel,' is set to explore the aftermath of Darko's death.
The novel will be presented as a collection of found documents from Donnie’s mother and father. Kelly has been working on the book for the past ten years, but says he has been trying to figure out a Donnie Darko sequel for almost two decades. The Philosophy of Time Travel will be released in the last quarter of 2026, in line with the 25th anniversary of Donnie Darko on October 26.
However, the book is just the first step in Kelly's larger plan to revive the Donnie Darko World. The filmmaker wants his novel to be adapted into a movie that could in turn spawn more sequels. "There is much more narrative material that I’ve been developing where the time jumps 28 years into the future, and there’s a lot of really exciting stuff that happens starting around 2015/2016," added the writer.
Kelly didn't give any plot details away, but he teased that there are "a lot of surprises when you realize who the characters really are in the reality of Southern California," revealing that the characters get drawn into "the tangent universe" or a "dream that lasted for 28 days" that spurs them to form a support group that turns into a cult.
The director added that he sees a section of the on-screen sequel being presented in animation, followed by the huge time jump so that the original stars could return to their respective roles. Kelly explained, "My caveat with doing a real sequel was that I want to reunite the original cast, and I want to take it onto a gigantic scale, and that takes time, and it has a price tag, and it’s hard to pull this off because it’s multiple movies." However, Kelly admitted that he is yet to approach the Donnie Darko cast.
The Philosophy of Time Travel is available to preorder now on Amazon. For more, check out our list of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies, and keep up with new movies on the way.
